


Hasenpfeffer

by WuvWinchesterHugs



Series: Crossovers [8]
Category: Ratatouille (2007), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cooking, Food Critic, Gen, Germany, Intoxication, Male Pronouns for Venom Symbiote (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-06-23 21:13:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 23,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19709560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WuvWinchesterHugs/pseuds/WuvWinchesterHugs
Summary: A black mass of goo dreams of using his sensitivity to taste to good use: to be the best chef he can be. With a little help from a certain Edward Brock, he may be able to do just that.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Some small notes before reading:  
> In this universe, symbiotes are a known species, but are thought of as vermin.
> 
> Because of this, not much is known about them or what they can do.
> 
> Symbiotes are not know with attaching themselves to humans, so they've somehow become self sustaining.

_All across the country of Germany, a program plays on every television tuned to Berlin's cooking channel. Unseen, a narrator begins to speak._

_"Although many countries would disagree, we the Germans know the facts. The best food in the world is made in Germany, the best food in Germany is made in Berlin, and some believe the best food in Berlin is made by Chef Tanis Nieves. Lebensgrundlage_ _is the most unique restaurant to open in decades. Booked several months in advance, and her amazing perseverance to the top of fine dining in German cuisine, even her competitors can't touch her. She's not only the first woman, she's also the youngest person to get a five star rating. Chef Nieves' cookbook, Down to the Last Bite, easily climbed to the number one spot upon release. But not everyone is ready to sing Chef Nieves' praises."_

_The camera switches to a woman sitting in a chair, observing the front cover, as she speaks. Underneath her, text reads,_

Bettina Vogt

Essen Fuhrer

_"Quite an amusing title. Down to the Last Bite. What's even more amusing is how Nieves seems to actually believe it can be done. I, on the other hand, have more experience than she ever will, and no, I don't believe food can be enjoyed down to the last bite."_


	2. This is Me

First thing you need to know is Venom is a symbiote. Which means life is a bit difficult. The second thing you need to know is Venom is not your average symbiote. His senses are more developed, allowing him to experience things other symbiotes would miss.

Another symbiote, called Toxin, is easily impressed by this. For example, when they were doing their daily gorge, and Venom was showing off his highly developed senses.

 **You have a gift.** Toxin says.

However, Riot, the leader of the hive, isn't.

**So you can taste an extra component in our food. What does it matter?**

Indeed. Why does it matter if you can taste one thing extra from the rest? Well, it turns out Riot was about to consume something that could've killed him. After some prowling around, it's discovered that funny taste was bleach, something known to mimic the burning sensation known to drive symbiotes away.

At this discovery, Riot suddenly realized that maybe Venom's senses weren't so useless. Venom couldn't help the wave of pride he felt at finally being useful to the hive. Until almost immediately, Venom was put on food safety checker. But hey, at least it made Riot proud.

 **See all this?** Riot says one day as he's overlooking the hive. **You're contributing to something greater than yourself.**

Venom, however, doesn't see it that way. **Greater than myself? We're parasites, Riot! And what we're killing is, let's be honest here, vermin!**

**It's not killing if they're already dead!**

**If they're dead, why are we even eating it?**

Safe to say, the two don't exactly see eye to eye on things.

But this much Venom knows to be true. If you're a living being same as everyone else, then Venom's not going to settle for less.

Riot, however, has other ideas.

**Food is food. If you nitpick every little thing you consume, it'll wind up costing you your life. Now stop arguing and eat your rat.**

But Venom can't let it go. **If we're gonna be parasites, why not go straight to the source, where nothing's bleached?**

Riot disagrees. **I'll say it again. We're not parasites. Second, stay away from the source, and away from the lesser beings. Humans are dangerous.**

Venom knows he's not supposed to sympathize with humans, but he can't help it. Humans live freely on their planet, and create! Look at what they do with food!

Venom discovered this one night when curiosity got the best of him and went inside the house. Wouldn't you know it, that's just when Venom is first introduced to Tanis Nieves.

On the screen, Nieves begins to speak.

"How can I begin to make you understand? Amazing food is like music you can feel, color you can taste. Inspiration is everywhere. All you have to do is stop and open your mouth."

Nieves was right, of course. Every ingredient you can imagine using in a dish has so many unique components. But it's when you combine them that components even highly developed senses can't pick up without tasting them together.

So now, Venom has a life of his own. One separate from the hive, but one he just can't give up.


	3. Complete Bliss

It should be noted that the only one who knows about what Venom gets up to away from the hive is Toxin. He may not fully understand Venom, but Venom knows he can trust Toxin with his secrets.

And naturally, Venom just happens to bump into Toxin when he finds an incredible mushroom out in the wild, boletus edulis.

**Toxin! I found a mushroom. Help me find somewhere to hide it!**

And so, the two set off to find a good hiding spot. But after a minute or two, Venom's senses start going off, and he smells something inside the bag Toxin has been carrying around. Curious, Venom goes inside it, and his discovery leaves him elated.

 **You found cheese, Toxin?** After smelling it, he realizes something else. **And not just any cheese, you found Butterkäse? That will go perfectly with my mushroom.**

****

Inspired, Venom keeps looking around their surroundings, and grabs a sprig. **This mint will go with it too!**

Toxin can't really get on board with the excitement, so he just says, **Very well. Throw it all together, and we'll bring it back to the hive.**

Venom is outraged. **We're not throwing it in with vermin! We're cooking it!** Which, he suddenly realizes, isn't so easy. **Now exactly how are we going to do that…**

Venom looks around, then sees some smoke coming from the chimney, along with a TV antenna.

With that, they climb to the top of the roof, and stick their findings onto one of the spikes.

Venom slowly turns the antenna as he explains the process.

**Just need to keep turning it to get it nice and smoky all around.**

Toxin, however, is more worried about their safety.

**The storm is getting closer. Venom, don't you think we shouldn't be all the way up…**

Then a bolt of lightning hits the roof, knocking both of them unconscious, and when Venom wakes up, he curiously tastes the mushroom, which somehow seems to have been cooked by the lightning bolt.

 **Toxin! You have to try this. It's unlike anything I've ever tasted! It's not really smoking or burning, it's more like a-** Venom mimics the sound of lightning. **Or maybe it's more of just a Zap! kind of taste. What would you call that?**

Toxin's still too dazed from being zapped to really focus, so he just says, **Lightning-y?**

Venom wholeheartedly agrees. **You're a genius! It's lightningy! We have to go up there again! Next storm that comes around, we'll go back up on the roof…** But once again, inspiration has struck. **I've got it! I know what's missing! Tomatoes! A sun dried tomato rub would be just the thing!**

Toxin already knows where this is going.

**Why do I have a feeling you're gonna say it's in the kitchen?**

Right as Venom says, **It's in the kitchen.**

Venom is searching for the rub as Toxin is on lookout duty, who can't help but try to urge Venom to leave.

**This isn't good. I really don't like this. What if he wakes up?**

Venom, however, isn't too worried. **I've been down here countless times. Turns on the cooking channel, out cold.**

Toxin's so confused by this,he has to ask, **You've been down here long enough to know how he operates?**

Venom's too busy looking for the rub to really be bothered. **Sun dried tomato rub would be perfect. Nieves swears by it.**

Toxin asks, **And who exactly is this Nieves?**

Venom enthusiastically says, **Just the best chef on this planet! Wrote this cookbook.**

Venom closes the cookbook so Toxin can see the title, _Down to the Last Bite_.

Toxin's more focused on what that implies,

**Wait. You can read?**

Venom admits, **Not...every second of the day.**

Toxin demands, **Does Riot know?**

Venom scoffs, **Humans could write countless books on all of the things Riot doesn't know. And they have. Hence why I read. Which you're not going to tell him.**

Toxin protests, **I don't like not telling Riot things! All the cooking and reading and tv watching, while also doing them! It's like I'm an accessory to murder, and I don't do anything to stop you. Why do I not do anything to stop you?**

But Venom's just found the rub. **Ah, Pomodori Secchi. Nieves would approve. Good to know this guy's pantry is well stock-.**

But then he sees something on the TV, and points it out to Toxin. **That's Nieves! Look!**

On the TV, Nieves speaks.

"Truly astounding cooking is not for the weak minded. You have to truly unlock the secrets of the mind, and be strong willed. You even need to fail. And never let anyone tell you what you can't do because of where you come from. The only limit is the one you set for yourself. What I say is undoubtedly true. Anyone can enjoy the first bite, but it takes true artistry to get someone all the way to the last."

Venom purrs, **Complete bliss.**

But then, a narrator starts speaking, something Venom wasn't expecting.

"But like everything else, nothing is built to last. Nieves' restaurant lost one of its five stars after receiving a scathing review from Germany's top food critic, Bettina Vogt. This wound up being a severe blow to Nieves, and brokenhearted, the young chef died shortly afterwards, which according to tradition, means the removal of another star."

Venom's so shocked, he has to move closer, and says out loud, **Nieves...is dead?**

But then, the TV suddenly turns off, and turning around, Venom sees the old man has woken up, and knows he has to hustle.

**Run!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to state here and now I am not a culinary expert, and completely acknowledge if the food I describe here or in future chapters do not work, and welcome any critiques that would work better.


	4. Symbiotic Dash

What happens upon being discovered feels like a blur.

Upon seeing Venom, the old man looks to the counter and sees Toxin. Quickly, the man grabs his gun and aims to fire at the symbiotes attempting to escape. Toxin heads for the ceiling, but Venom shouts,

**No! You'll expose the hive!**

But Toxin just keeps moving, despite the numerous times he's shot at. It's not until he's trapped on the ceiling fan does he stop, and just when Toxin thinks this is the end in his panic, the old man runs out of ammo.

 **Swing yourself over to me!** Venom orders, and Toxin complies, but only succeeds in grabbing Venom and pulling him onto the fan as well.

Unfortunately, that's right when the old man reloads, and with one carefully aimed shot, fires again, but misses, hitting where the fan's connected to the ceiling. At first, nothing happens, but the shot, combined with two symbiotes weighing the fan down, is enough for the fan to fall into the floor, exposing the symbiotic hive that's been squatting in the man's attic.

The old man yells in alarm, while Riot is immediately all about taking charge.

**Evacuation! Repeat, we're all in evacuation!**

Immediately, the hive makes to getting out of the house, but on instinct, Venom goes back for the cookbook. Right as Venom is about to break the window, he's spotted by the old man, who now has a mask over his mouth and a container of bleach in his hand.

The old man makes a swipe at Venom, but Venom is faster and makes it out the window, shattering the glass.

While the rest of the hive has made it to the water, Venom is still trying to catch up while still carrying the cookbook.

The rest of the hive gets onto the makeshift structure built to carry the hive along the water and pushes off, and Riot does a quick count,

**Are we all together? Where is Venom?**

But as Riot turns to look, he sees Venom is still too far behind, only able to carry himself along the water by the cookbook he grabbed. Venom manages to push himself closer to the boat, whole Riot calls out,

**Someone reach out to pull him into the hive!**

As one symbiote reaches out an inky tentacle to reach for Venom, Venom does the same, but before they can touch, a painful blast separates them, and a look up shows the old man on the bridge, having just fired at them again, and about to reload.

The blast separates the hive from Venom by several inches, leaving Venom no choice but to keep pushing himself.

Only when is Venom in the tunnel does he relax only slightly, now safely away from more gunshots. But he's still separated from the hive, and he can't even see where the hive is anymore.

But before he can think too hard on that, he's pulled into a sewage tunnel, and falls down a waterfall, swept up by the tides and unable to grab onto anything, not even the book, which at some point got ripped away from him. If he wasn't self-sustaining, he's sure he would've drowned.

When he finally reaches the end of wherever this tunnel leads to, it's quiet. The cookbook is still there, having caught on the edge of the platform. Venom crawls onto the platform himself, and upon checking his surroundings, finally allows himself to fully relax.


	5. Wall Symbiote

The only thing Venom can do is wait. For a sound. A voice. Something. Any kind of sign to tell him what to do next.

But then, he remembers the cookbook, and starts flipping through it. It's only when he lands on a page with Chef Nieves posed with one of her desserts does he stop, the hunger having become too great.

"If you're hungry, climb up and go check things out."

Venom visibly flinches, but then he looks towards the illustration, who speaks again,

"Why are you still down here feeling sorry for yourself?"

Without thinking, Venom answers,

**I just lost my hive. Everyone I've ever known or looked up to. Most likely for good.**

Nieves' illustration, "And how exactly do you know this?"

Venom starts to answer again, **I-** but then catches himself. **You're not real. Why am I even communicating to you?**

Nieves repeats, "You just lost you hive. Everyone you've ever known or looked up to. You crave companionship."

Venom doesn't feel like playing along anymore, **You're dead.**

Nieves just laughs at him, "Not in your imagination I'm not! If you stay too caught up in what was, you'll never get to see what might've been! Now quit moping and go check things out!"

With that, the illustration stops talking, so Venom takes its advice and climbs the pipes. He keeps moving, stopping to note the sounds and smells as he does, until he finds a room where some sort of gathering is going on. His senses are going nuts, so he keeps following them until he finds the source: some fresh potatoes. He looks towards the partygoers, trying to discreetly take a bite, but he's thwarted by Nieves, this time as a ghostly figure.

"What are you doing!"

The fact that Venom needs to explain is maddening enough,

**I'm hungry! I have no idea where this is, or if I'll ever get another chance to eat real food again!**

Naturally, Nieves gets all high and mighty on Venom and chastises him,

"You're better than that, Venom! You're a chef! A chef gives. A parasite takes. And you know you're not a parasite!"

Venom already knows all of that, of course, but still,

**But I'm still hungry.**

Nieves assures him, "Food will come in time. When you're a chef, food is never far away.", before disappearing.

And as much as Venom hates to admit it, Nieves is right, so he leaves the potatoes alone, climbs back into the pipes, and stays alert as he moves.

Finally, he makes it outside the building, and climbs up onto the roof. After looking around at all the sites, he suddenly recognizes several buildings across the skyline, and immediately recognizes where he is.

**Berlin? This whole time, I was hiding under Berlin?**

Venom keeps looking around, barely unable to contain his excitement.

**It's incredible.**

"The most beautiful." A woman's voice speaks, and when Venom turns to look, he sees a big neon sign that says _Lebensgrundlage_ , along with Chef Nieves in her signature pose.

**Lebensgrundlage? Your restaurant? Did you actually lead me here to your restaurant?**

The Nieves sign seems surprised by this,

"Well look at that. Guess I have. What are the odds I tell you to look around and you just happen to end up here?"

Venom's too excited, **I am going to check this out.** And slithers off his rooftop over to a window overlooking the kitchen. Dream come true, here he comes.


	6. Welcome to the Team

Down in the kitchen of the famous restaurant, Lebensgrundlage, to an outsider, it would sound like complete chaos.

"Ready to go on table seven!"

"Coming around!"

"One order of Islandic salmon up!"

"Coming up!"

"More soup bowls!"

"I need two breast of etouffee pigeon!"

"I need more mangels!"

"I need two skate, three Gurkensalat and three skirt steak!"

"Three orders of Gurkensalat working!"

"Firing two orders, seared skate!"

"Three skirts working! I need plates!"

"Fire seven!"

"Three Gurkensalat up!"

"Don't touch my station!"

"Open down low!"

"I'm getting buried here!"

And wouldn't you know it, an outsider is here to talk to the head chef, and all the sights, smells, are a bit much for someone who's new to the scene.

Luckily for him, the head chef, Carlton Drake, has just come in, having grabbed the mail and heading to his office.

Or he would've, had one of the chefs not stopped him to point out the outsider,

"Hey, chef! Look who came to visit. Eddie Brock Jr. Edward's kid. Nieves' old fling, remember?" The chef chuckles.

Chef Drake is a bit preoccupied, so he attempts to be polite, "Oh, of course. How are you…"

"Brock."

"Right, Brock. Nice to see you. How is…?"

Ediie finally speaks up, "My dad?"

Drake answers, "Right, of course. Your father Edward. How is he?"

But before Eddie can respond, Chef Flash Thompson pipes up for him, "He died."

And that, finally, gets Drake to look up from the mail. "Oh no. I'm sorry to hear that."

Eddie tries, "Oh don't be. He wouldn't have it any other way. You know. As far as the life he led…?"

But that makes it even more awkward, so Eddie just looks all over his person for a letter from his dad, before finding it and handing it to Drake.

Drake takes it, demanding, "What the hell is this?"

Eddie explains, "My dad left that for you. I think he was hoping it would help...me...get a job. Here?"

The chef behind Drake is already on board, "Of course! Any friend of Nieves is a friend of ours!"

But Drake's already dismissing the whole thing, "Tell you what. I'll file this away, and if something comes up, I'll let you…"

The chef behind him tells him, "He's already been hired."

That immediately makes Drake turn around and demand, "What? How dare you hire someone without my say so?"

Then Chef Flash speaks up again, "We needed a new garbage guy."

At this point, Drake's too annoyed to care. "Well, good for you Brock." is all he says, then storms off to his office.

Ediie tries to get his attention, perhaps just so he can say his thanks, but the door is already shut, so Eddie tries to skulk away, but he's stopped by Chef Flash, who's holding out his uniform.

Eddie Brock Jr, garbage guy. Yippee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dishes mentioned here are from the FACIL restaurant on Potsdamer Platz, in The Mandala Hotel.
> 
> I didn't want to risk writing down dishes that don't work, so all rights go to the restaurant.


	7. A Real Gourmet Kitchen

While all the chaos may look crazy to an outsider, to Venom, he couldn't be more excited.

**Amazing. I get to watch a real kitchen at work!**

****

The ghostly figure of Nieves reappears, and asks, "You've read my book. Let's test your knowledge. Where is the head chef?"

Venom looks, then upon seeing Drake walk by, points, **Him.**

Nieves nods in approval, "Very good. Next in command?"

 **Unter chef. There.** Venom points to Dan. **When the head chef steps out, the Unter takes over.**

Invigorated, Venom keeps it up, pointing them out once he's identified them.

 **Frecher, makes sauces. Important for any dish. Parteichef, halber Parteichef, super important. Koch…** For a moment Venom is stuck, but it comes back to him. **Koch, they're chefs. Practically the most important.**

Nieves is impressed. "You're one smart symbiote. Now who is that?" She points to Eddie.

Venom sees no reason to waste any breath on him, so he dismisses the guy, **Him? No one.**

Nieves scolds him, "Not no one. He's in the kitchen, that makes him important."

Venom admits, **He's a taucher or something along those lines. Washes dishes. Takes out the garbage. Doesn't cook at all.**

Nieves tells him, "But he could if he wanted to."

Venom doesn't get why Nieves won't let it go, **No.**

Nieves keeps it up, "What makes you the expert? What am I always saying to strive for? Down to the last bite."

Venom admits, **Yes, but that doesn't mean it's going to be him.**

But down below, there's a new development, and Nieves has to point it out, "Looks like he's not letting that stop him!"

Upon seeing what Eddie's doing, Venom protests, **No No! He's ruining the soup! And nobody can see him!**

Venom turns to Nieves in anger. **It's your restaurant, do something!**

Nieves reminds him, "I don't exist! I'm in your imagination!"

Venom can't really be bothered to pay attention to this, **He's ruining the soup!**

But all the commotion he makes is enough for him to fall through the window and into a sink.

Not good.


	8. Souped Up

Immediately, Venom starts moving, sliding down onto the floor, thankfully out of sight. But once a hit pan lights on fire, he's immediately out of there.

Venom slithers away, only to be hit by the pantry door opening and making him slide underneath one of the other stoves. Thankfully, he sees a way out, over by the ruined soup.

As Venom moves towards the window, someone steps in front of him, making him recoil, only to realize the oven he's hiding underneath has just been lit, so he makes a hasty retreat before he can be burned, straight for the window.

He climbs the shelves and manages to hide behind several jars, inching closer to the window, but just as he's about to make it out, the lid of the pot he's on flips, and suddenly Venom is trapped inside. He attempts to slither out, but is once again thwarted when Venom feels someone pick up the pot. Upon taking a peek, Venom can see someone is carrying the pot away from the window.

Once he feels the pot being sat down, Venom slides out and hides behind a casserole dish filled with a whole chicken and vegetables, with a clear view of the open window.

He almost moves towards it, but upon realizing he's about to be spotted, quickly slithers inside the dish.

Venom is immediately overwhelmed by the smell of the dish, but then he feels himself once again being lifted, this time straight into an oven. Quickly, he leaps out of the oven before the door closes onto an a la carte.

At first, it looks like he's home free, but then the cart moves away from the window, and straight into the dining area. Venom knows better than to do anything to draw attention to himself, especially here, so he lays low, waiting to be pushed back into the kitchen.

Or that's what would've happened, had the maitre D not grabbed him when he did. Before he can be spotted, Venom throws himself onto another cart, one that's going back into the kitchen, and once he gets close, he leaps back onto the floor, looking at the open window for his opportunity to escape 

An opportunity that's thwarted once again when a chef nearby closes the window upon seeing it open.

But then Eddie wanders by it, pulls up a ladle, and sips the soup he just attempted to fix. He visibly gags, then moves to the window, opening it, and spitting out the soup.

Seeing his out, Venom slides up the stove and slithers past it, but upon the putrid smell, he just has to do something, so he throws in some bay leaves. He tries to leave again, but he can't help but turn back again, so he throws in some thyme. Just to check, Venom savors the smell This time he's sure the soup will be fine, so he goes for the window again, but again, he decides to throw in something else, this time some chopped garlic.

Now he knows the soup will be fine, so he throws himself onto the windowsill. And yet, he can't stop himself from looking back at the soup.

Venom winds up staring at the soup for so long, the ghostly figure of Chef Nieves appears out of nowhere,

"Come on, Venom! What're you waiting for, a formal invitation?"

Venom's too annoyed, all he says is,  **Are you just going to show up on a regular basis?**

Nieves encourages Venom, "You know what you need to do. This is your opportunity."

Looking at the soup again, Venom realizes she's right.

Venom slithers back to the soup, first lowering the temperature to the lowest setting. Then, he gets to work.

First things first, Venom dumps more stock into the pot. Then, upon finding it, he pours in the half-and-half, slowly so as not to overflow the pot. Then, he goes over to where the ingredients are, and starts throwing them all in in a flurry. First the Brandy, then handful after handful of cheese, as well as more of the thyme and bay leaves, taking care to taste as he goes.

Finally, he gives the soup one last stir with a spoon, sips it, and just as he's about to add the last ingredient, he suddenly gets the impression he's being watched, and slowly turns his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering where the inspiration for the soup came from: https://www.nospoonnecessary.com/apple-cheddar-hard-cider-soup/


	9. Is it Soup Yet?

Eddie is staring at it in shock, as he watches the black goo drop the prosciutto into the soup.

"Soup! Where is that goddamn soup!" Chef Drake calls.

Venom attempts to escape, but Eddie immediately traps him underneath a strainer, holding it down with one hand as Drake gets closer.

"Get the hell out of my way, Brock!" But then he sees the ladle in Eddie's hand, and that sets Drake off all over again. "You seriously have the nerve to cook in my kitchen?"

Drake grabs Eddie by the neck of his uniform, pulling him up close to his face as he tells him off, "How dare you! You think you can just walk into my kitchen and act like you own the place! I could have you arrested for having the nerve to do something so stupid! Don't think I won't do it! I'm pretty sure the odds are more in my favor than they are yours!"

But Eddie's too busy watching a chef pour the soup into a serving dish, "Oh shit."

The chef walks straight to where the maitre D is waiting, and Eddie gets louder in his distress, "Fuck!"

Seeing Eddie's not paying attention, Drake demands, "What the hell is wrong with you, Brock?"

Eddie points in the soups direction, which is heading out the door, "The soup!"

Upon realizing the soup is about to be served, Drake looks to the pot, then to the serving dish, and makes a run for the door.

"Stop that soup!" Drake yells, but then he's suddenly in the dining room, having not noticed in his mad dash to stop the soup from being served.

Quickly, Drake backs himself into the kitchen to spy on the customer who receives the soup. Drake watches the customer take one sip, then calls the waiter back to the table.

Immediately, Drake is convinced he's about to get a complaint, turns to where Eddie is still standing by the pot.

"Brock! You're fired. You're finished in this town! I will see to it you will never work again!"

Then, the waiter comes back to the kitchen, informing Drake mid-rant, "He wishes to speak to the chef."

Drake, having no choice, quickly composes himself and follows the waiter out to where the customer is waiting.

Eddie attempts to sneak out the back, but Flash grabs him by the back of his uniform and won't let him.

Chef Anne Weying takes a spoon and sips the soup for herself, and finds the flavor rather interesting.

Then, upon hearing the chef and waiter reenter the kitchen, she asks,

"What did the customer say?"

The waiter excitedly informs the rest of them, "It wasn't a customer at all. It was a critic!"

Immediately, Anne asks, "Vogt?"

Drake, now stunned, tells them, "Adolf Fox."

Anne repeats, "Fox?" then asks again, "What did he say?"

The waiter answers, "He likes the soup!"

Meanwhile, Venom is still trying to escape, while the Nieves ghost is trying to stop him, "Hold up!"

Venom argues, **Hold up? It's your fault I'm even down here!**

The ghost immediately shushes him, "Sh! Someone's asking about your soup!" and forcibly gets Venom to look at what's going on.

Drake grabs a spoon and tastes the soup for himself, and upon coming to the same conclusion as Anne, whips around and grabs Eddie's jacket.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?"

Eddie's still focused on something else, "Am I still fired?"

Anne protests, "You can't fire him!"

Drake turns on her, demanding, "Excuse me?"

Anne reminds Drake, "Fox likes it. He had you go all the way out there just so he could tell you. And if he says anything about it and finds out you fired the guy that made it?"

Drake scoffs, "He's the garbage guy."

Anne reiterates, "Who made something he likes! How are we supposed to live up to the Nieves name if we don't train someone that can get us to once again fulfill her most cherished belief?"

Drake asks, "And what belief would you be referring to, Frau Weying?"

Anne states matter-of-factly, "Down to the last bite."

That makes Venom pause, realizing Nieves had been right all along.

A look around the kitchen shows the rest of the chefs agree, and seeing this, Drake decides to do some damage control,

"Maybe you're right, and I've been too hard on our newest team member. He took a huge risk, and it paid off. Nieves wouldn't have punished him for that, and neither should we. If he wants to play with the big boys, who are we to get in his way?"

Then the Nieves ghost clears her throat, "I believe you were escaping?"

Then Venom focuses back on getting out of here, while Drake continues.

"Since you seem to be so invested in his future, he's your responsibility." And shoves Eddie in Anne's direction.

Now that that's settled, Drake asks the rest of them, "Anyone else have something they like to add?" At the silence, "No? Then back to work everyone. Chop chop!"

But he's not done yet, because then he turns to Eddie, informing him,

"I don't know what your deal is Brock, but whether or not that soup was a fluke, I don't like you. To prove you deserve to be here, you're gonna make the soup again. But don't go thinking you'll get to be alone this time. Oh no. I'll be watching your every move, so there's no chance of you trying to pull a fast one on me. You may have everyone else in here fooled, but you know what I think, Brock? I think you're just another manipulative, money-hungry, stupid little…"

But the. He sees Venom slithering up the wall, and shouts, "Symbiote!"

That immediately sends everyone into a panic. Drake hits it with a mop and yells at Eddie, "Brock! Grab something to trap it in!"

On impulse, Eddie grabs a large jar, scoops Venom up in it, and twists the lid shut over it.

"Now what?" Eddie asks.

Drake orders, "Dispose of it!"

Eddie asked, "What, now?"

Drake yells, disgusted, "No, not in the damn kitchen. Are you insane? Do you have any idea what would happen if people found out there was a symbiote in this kitchen? We'd be closed for good! It's a miracle we're not closed already!" Turning back to Eddie, "Get that thing out of here, kill it, just do it now!"

Frantically, Eddie makes a dash for his motorcycle and drives out to the closest river, jar in tow.

Shit shit shit. Venom has no idea how he's gonna get out of this, but he has to think fast!


	10. New Deal

Eddie speeds away from the kitchen as fast as the speed limit will allow, until he finds a bridge. Then, he parks his motorcycle, walks onto the bridge, and holds the jar over the edge, trying to work up the nerve to drop the jar into the water.

But the way the symbiote is behaving inside the jar isn't making that so easy. In fact, it almost looks like the symbiote is pulsing, mimicking that of a rapidly pounding heart. And before Eddie knows what he's doing, he blurts out,

"Would you stop looking at me like that, or whatever it is you think you're doing! You think you're the only one who got the short end here? They want me to do it again!"

Now that he's on a tangent, he pauses what he's doing to continue,

"I'm not like that at all! I wasn't trying to be a big shot! I was just trying to keep my job!" 

But then he remembers, turning his focus back to the symbiote, "You're the one that was throwing all that fancy shit in there!" He demands, "What the hell did you throw in there? Saffron?" Venom twitches in what Eddie supposes is supposed to be negative, "No? Then what? Rosemary?" Again, the symbiote twitches in the negative. "No rosemary?"

Now that Eddie's managed to calm down, he tries to puzzle it out, "Then what was with all the tossing and flipping?" Then, he sits down on the bridge, setting the jar down next to him, all his energy depleted.

"Jesus. And wouldn't you know it, this happens right when I need a job the most. I already lost my job as a reporter. I know nothing about cooking and I'm actually talking to a pile of goo like it's actually gonna-." 

That's when Eddie realizes something, "Wait a minute. Have you been responding?" Venom twitches in the affirmative. "You can understand what I'm saying?" Venom twitches in the affirmative again. "So it's not just me!"

But now that he knows the symbiote can understand him, he starts to get an idea. "Wait a minute." He turns to the symbiote, "I can't cook at all, can I?" Venom almost doesn't respond, but then twitches in the negative. Eddie goes on, "But you can, can't you?"

This time, Venom hesitates, and maybe it's just because Eddie's now paying attention, but Eddie can tell what the symbiote is thinking,

"Hey! What are you being so modest for? You're a symbiote! Regardless, you did something they liked!" Then Eddie's back to thinking, "You know what? I think this could work!" Enthusiastically, he turns to Venom, "They like the soup!" But in his excitement, he accidentally hits the jar and nearly knocks it into the water again, but Eddie apparently has quick reflexes, and grabs the jar before it can fall. Then he repeats himself, "They like the soup. Think you could do it again?"

Venom pauses, then eventually, twitches in the affirmative.

Obviously, Eddie's not stupid, and knows more than likely the symbiote is just trying to say whatever it takes to be let go, but still, he tells the symbiote, "Okay. I'm gonna let you out now. But we're a team, right?"

When Venom twitches in the affirmative again, Eddie moves the jar to the ground, and opens the jar. For a moment, Venom doesn't move, but then, he takes off. He's free! What does he care?

Eddie, meanwhile, sighs in defeat. He already suspected this would happen, but to be outright rejected, that just hurts. Dejected, he starts walking back to his motorcycle. Now what is he gonna do?

Venom turns back, to see if the guy chases after him, but upon seeing the dejected look, he stops. Weird. He's never outright communicated with a human before, and now he's suddenly feeling regret at leaving this one behind?

Eddie gets ready to drive off, but upon seeing movement in the dark, he stops. The symbiote came back. Maybe they can work together after all.

Eddie drives them both to his shitty apartment, giving the symbiote a quick tour.

"So this is my humble abode. It's ain't much but…" then he remembers, "Yeah I know. It's crap. But at least I'm not homeless. Place has a bed and heating and an awesome view. So, I guess it's your place too."

As the night goes on, Eddie eventually falls asleep in front of the idiot box, while Venom is too caught up in the view from the window, but eventually, he finds himself nodding off as well.

Tomorrow, a cook. In a month, a culinary giant.


	11. We're All in This Together

The next morning, Eddie wakes up, still on the couch, and calls out, "Morning, Mr. Goo. Up and at-." But upon seeing the symbiote isn't at the makeshift bed, he immediately assumes the worst. "Oh shit." Then he looks to the fridge, seeing the doors been left cracked open. "I'm such an idiot! I knew what was gonna happen! I let a symbiote into my apartment, tell him it's his too…" he checks inside the fridge, and sure enough, "Yep, took the fucking eggs! Stole food and made a break for it! That's what I get for trusting a para-." But then he turns around, and there's the symbiote, cooking eggs on Eddie's hotplate. Which means he probably heard all that.

"Uh, hi." Eddie says, ashamed of himself, and watches the symbiote serve up omelettes for both of them.

Eddie slowly goes to take a bite, "Mmm. That's pretty good. What did you put in here?"

Venom uses a tentacle to hold up a leaf.

Naturally, Eddie is suspicious, "And where exactly did you get that?"

Venom slithers over to the window and gestures down, referring to a garden that's on the ground floor, connected by the clothesline.

Eddie has to protest, "Look, I get you're just trying to make it delicious, but you can't just steal to do it. I'll buy some stuff for you to use, alright?"

Naturally, Venom doesn't really get why this is an issue, so he goes to eat his own portion of the eggs.

Unfortunately, that's when Eddie notices the time, "Uh oh. We're late on the first day already!" So he scarfs the rest of the eggs down and grabs the symbiote before Venom can even get one bite. "Gotta go!"

As they make their way to the restaurant, the other chefs are already there, reading Adolf Fox's review from the previous night.

"I myself, like Berlin's other critics, had written off Lebensgrundlage as a sellout since the young chef's death, this soup was anything but that. A sweet yet still savory taste experience."

Drake happens to hear this as he walks by, and has to ask, "Adolf Fox?"

Anne enthusiastically confirms, "Yes!" Then continues reading, "Up against many rising chefs, Lebensgrundlage hasn't caught anyone's attention in years. But after last night, it has now. As always, only time will tell us if it was well deserved."

Meanwhile, outside, Eddie and Venom have just shown up, and they're faced with another problem: how are they going hide Venom? Eddie checks over his person, looking everywhere he can for possible hiding spots. At one point he even holds up his pants, and even Eddie can feel the wave of discomfort from the symbiote.

But Eddie is determined to make this work, so he tells Venom,

"Look, I know this is ridiculous and stupid, but neither of us are gonna get what we want on our own, so we have to work together! Right?"

Eddie sees a twitch in the affirmative, so he knows the symbiote is on board.

"Alright, let's cook some soup!"


	12. Symbiosis

Eddie bursts into the kitchen, forcing a confidence he doesn't feel. Once he sees all eyes are on him, he makes his way to his station, all the while twitching from feeling the symbiote slide up and down his body. This definitely catches people's attention, but Eddie's only focused on getting to his station, where Chef Drake is waiting.

"Welcome to Hell." Drake says. "Your first task, recreate the soup." As he walks away, "Take whatever time you think you need. The whole week if necessary."

And that reminds Eddie of what they still need to do. "Right. The soup."

At first, Eddie just drops the ingredients into the pot, but suddenly, the symbiote slithers onto his arm, tickling him, and smacks his hand.

Pissed, Eddie smacks it back, and this goes on for a while before they start getting people's attention, so quickly, with one last smack that results in being smacked back, Eddie retreats to the walk in closet.

Once inside, he pulls his jacket open and pulls up his undershirt, and what should he find but all the places where either the symbiote smacked him, or he smacked it.

He can't help but yell, "Fuuuuck!!!! Shiiiit!!!! Godfuckingdamnit!!! This is not gonna work. I'm gonna lose my mind if we keep trying to do this. There's gotta be another way. Something that doesn't involve you smacking or slithering up and down my body with your little tentacle... things. Smacking, bad. Slithering, bad. No smacking or slithering, got it, buddy?"

Venom's too busy looking at the potatoes behind Eddie, so when Eddie prompts him again, "Buddy?" and still gets no answer, he looks behind him, and realizes, "Oh. You didn't get a chance to eat before we rushed down here, did you?"

Sure, Eddie feels bad, but he knows symbiotes need fuel in the tank too, so reluctantly, he grabs one of the smallest Vales potatoes and hands it to Venom.

"You know what? For future reference, I'm gonna call you V, after that potato."

Venom makes no response, too busy enjoying the phenylethamine in the potato he's consuming.

"Now, let's really try to figure this out. You've got all the fresh new ideas for food that people like. And I can pull off the appearance of a chef. We just gotta figure out a way for me to do what you want without it looking like I'm being controlled by a pile of black goo."

But then he realizes what he just said, "Goddamnit. Did you hear me just now? I'm crazy. Certifiably insane! I'm in a walk-in pantry talking to a symbiote in a gourmet kitchen! I'm never gonna get this right!"

Outside, Drake hears yelling coming from inside the pantry, and thinks he can make out who it is, "Brock?"

Eddie tells Venom, "We need to communicate! I can't constantly be checking for a twitch here and a twitch there from a-."

But then the door opens, and upon being spotted, in a panic, Eddie shuts off the light, and he feels the symbiote jump on him, quickly hiding himself away, in the quick second it takes for Drake to turn the light back on.

"The symbiote! It's still here!"

Eddie plays dumb, his only defense, "A symbiote, sir?"

Drake insists, "Yes. There was a symbiote in here, right next to you." But then, he seems to remember something more important, "What the hell are you even doing in here, Brock?"

Yikes. Eddie wasn't expecting that, so he improvises, using his hands, "I'm just you know, feeling around, seeing if there's an ingredient I overlooked."

But Drake doesn't seem to care whether or not Eddie's telling the truth, "Brock, get the hell out of here."

Not needing to be told twice, Eddie walks out, but not before he hears, "There is such thing as overkill in a soup, you know!" from Drake as the door shuts behind Eddie.

Now that the coast is clear, Eddie whispers, "Phew. That was close. You okay in there, V?"

But before he gets any kind of response, he suddenly feels his body forcefully pulled away, narrowly missing a tray the maitre D is holding. When Eddie realizes what just happened, he quickly excuses himself into the bathroom, while the maitre D just stares at him, shocked.

Now safely in the bathroom, Eddie looks in the mirror, demanding "How the hell did you do that?" He feels his shoulders shrug, although he swears he didn't do it.

Then he watches as his arms slowly raised, then back down again.

"That's a little unsettling." Is the only comment Eddie makes as he suddenly feels himself collapse onto the floor.

"Wait a minute…" Suddenly, Eddie realizes he can feel V under his skin, and can somehow feel the symbiote agreeing with him.

And that's all it takes for them to realize they're on the same page, with the same insane idea.


	13. Mask! Copy.

Later that day, Eddie buys groceries for them to practice with, and when he sets them down on a counter in his apartment, he feels V make him halt. Understanding, Eddie lets himself relax, and he feels V attempt to move his arms and legs.

Since V's still new to having a host, it's a bit awkward for Eddie to let V move him around.

"Where are we going, V?"

At one point, Venom tries to turn Eddie around, but only succeeds in making him fall on the floor.

But Venom keeps it up, eventually figuring out how to keep Eddie in an upright position, making it to the fridge an opening it, but slips up and as a result, Eddie faceplants right onto a cold shelf.

Next, they try holding their ingredients. First, Venom grabs a tomato with Eddie's hand, brings it to Eddie's nose and sniffs it. After deciding it's not what he's looking for, Venom has Eddie set it back down and pick up the other tomato, and after smelling that one, goes to set it aside to use for later, but accidentally squeezes it too hard, and winds up getting tomato all over Eddie's face.

Next, they try making a crepe to test their flipping skills, and it's time to flip it. Venom tries his best, but he can't seem to flip it high enough to make it flip, so he goes higher and higher, but in his haste, the pan goes flying out of their hands, breaking a window and causing some sort of accident down below.

Eddie attempts to go look, but Venom stops him, and that's all Eddie needs to know that whatever happened just now, wasn't good.

Time to whisk. This seems to be the easiest thing they've done so far, starting slowly to get the hang of it, then going faster, and before Venom knows it, they're in a whisking frenzy.

Now to test gripping and emptying. Venom grabs a box of pasta with Eddie's hand easily, and turns it over to hang right over the pot.

Venom gives a small initial shake, but the pasta barely comes out at all, so he shakes it more forcefully. Unfortunately, all that does is make the pasta miss the pot completely, which frustrates Venom. But then he sees one strand of pasta is still in the box, so he pushes it into the pot slowly. Okay, so it's not perfect, but it's progress.

Later, they're pouring a bottle of wine into a glass, and it's still a bit shaky, splashing wine all over the place before finally filling the glass up.

On impulse, Eddie takes back control to toast Venom, "Zum wohl." And sips the wine himself. Then he tries to give the glass to Venom, who only succeeds in splashing it all over the both of them, leaving them soaking wet.

Finally, it's time for the knife cutting portion. Venom doesn't go fast at all, so as to get a better hang of it.

From there, Venom succeeds in cracking an egg into a skillet without breaking the yolk.

Then, the biggest progress test is when they attempt to make the soup again, and this time it's flawless. Nothing breaks or spills, and even when he accidentally knocks something off the counter, Venom grabs it before it falls.

Before either of them know it, they're crushing up the prosciutto and dropping it into the pot, having successfully recreated the soup for Chef Drake.


	14. You are the Mother!

Chef Drake dips a spoon and tastes Eddie and V's supposed recreation of the soup, and once he has his answer, Drake turns back to Brock,

"Congratulations, Brock. You managed to successfully recreate your accidental success. But if you're going to be a chef in my kitchen, you can't skirt by on soup alone. Anne is going to be the one to teach you the ropes on how this kitchen is supposed to be run."

With that, Drake walks away, and Eddie tries to be nice,

"Listen, I want you to know what a privilege it is to study under someo-."

But he's abruptly cut off when Anne takes a kitchen knife, and stabs it into Eddie's sleeve, impaling him into the cutting board.

"No, now it's your turn to listen. I want you to know exactly the person that's been chosen to whip your sorry ass into shape. Take a quick glance. How many women are in this kitchen?"

Eddie's now a bit terrified, he has no idea how to answer that, but luckily, Anne wasn't looking for one. She stabs another knife into his sleeve, answering for him,

"Just me. Any clue as to why that is? Hoch cuisine is not just a form of food, it's a way of life, with rules made by white men so they don't have to share their toys in the sandbox. And yet, here I am. How is this so?"

Now Eddie attempts to answer, "Be-because-..."

Then Anne stabs a third knife into Eddie's sleeve, and informs him,

"Because I cook in circles around the rest of the chefs in this kitchen. I've been working too long and too hard to get where I am, just to throw it all away for some loser that got lucky with some fancy soup. Understand?"

With that, she yanks the knives back out, causing Eddie to fall to the floor, and storms off.

Meanwhile, Eddie is blown away, "V, I'm in trouble. I think I'm in love."

Inside Drake's office, he's speaking to a man he hired to make cutouts to sell the restaurant's frozen food line.

Behind him, the man pitches to Drake, "Easy to cook, easy to eat, Lebensgrundlage makes Chinese food…" he pulls off the covering on the newest cutout behind him, to reveal Chef Nieves in a bamboo hat and holding the newest product, Kung Fu Creamsicles, and in smaller print, "Sweet potatoes." "Chineasy!"

Drake applauds him, "Well done. This will be brilliant!"

The man agrees, "It's a gift."

Drake goes on, "Alright, now I think it's time we added something American to the line. Nieves' Corn Puppies. Bite size corn dogs."

The man's confused at first, "Corn dogs? Never heard of them."

Drake quickly explains, "Just cheap sausages dipped in batter and fried. You know, like in America. I'm sure you'll do great. Maybe Nieves in a Daisy Duke type outfit?"

The man starts sketching, "Or maybe a sexy dog outfit, with an ear of corn?"

Drake dismisses him to work on it, "I'm sure you'll do wonderful." And closes the door behind the man.

That settled, he goes back to his desk to go through the mail, when the letter from Eddie's father shows up.

What the hell. Not like he has anything better to do. He opens the envelope, and starts reading. As he does, he gets more and more agitated, until he realizes he needs a legal perspective, and immediately dials his lawyer's number.

The lawyer shows up, and Drake hands him the will, and the lawyer reads it out loud.

"The will clearly states 2 years after the death, if a next of kin doesn't show up, Nieves' business interests are to immediately go to her sous chef, and that's you."

Drake doesn't care about that, "I know what the goddamn will says! What I don't know is if this letter," holding it up, "If this guy…" he pulls the blinds down, showing Eddie to the lawyer, "Changes anything!"

The lawyer takes a closer look as Eddie quietly observes Anne cooking at the stove.

The lawyer compares his resemblance to a picture of Chef Nieves, and notes, "I don't really see the resemblance."

Drake yells, "That's because there isn't any resemblance at all! He can't be Nieves son! Nieves didn't have any kids. But just think about all the timing of this! The deadline for the will is less than a month away from expiration, and suddenly some loser shows up with a letter from his late father, saying Nieves is his mom! Little too coincidental, don't you think?"

The lawyer sees an old hair tie that had to have been Nieves', "This is Nieves'? May I?"

Drake waves it off, and the lawyer presses on, "So Brock doesn't know?"

Drake explains, "He claims he never told Eddie, Nieves agreed to do the same, not wanting anything to tarnish her reputation, the secret died with her, and now that it's died with him as well, asks that I keep it that way."

The lawyer asks, "Why you? What does he want?"

Drake tells him, "A job. For his kid."

The lawyer asks, "A job? That's it?"

Drake admits, "Yes…"

The lawyer has to point out how worked up Drake is getting over nothing, "Then what's the big deal? If he's on your payroll, you can watch him, while I take this," the lawyer takes a strand of Nieves' hair to tuck away for safekeeping, "And figure out how much of this checks out. Of course, you'll need to grab some DNA from Brock too."

But Drake can't let it go, "I swear, this is all too coincidental. The guy has to know something!" Recalling the taste of the soup.

The lawyer reminds him, "He's just your garbage guy. I think you'll be fine." And closes the door behind him.


	15. Anne shows Eddie Das Ropes

First lesson as a new chef, and Eddie figures he can at least make himself useful by chopping vegetables, but apparently he can't even do that right, because Anne comes up behind him, demanding, "What the hell are you doing?"

Eddie tries to explain, "Vegetables? I'm just...chopping vegetables?"

Anne snaps, "No! You wasted all that energy and time on vegetables? I think I finally get it. You think cooking is easy huh? Like the old days when you got to help daddy in the kitchen?"

Then, in a flurry, while simultaneously finishing the vegetables in under a minute, Annie barrels into him, and even Venom's terrified,

"Well did daddy ever face the dinner rush whenever orders came flooding in, every dish different, none of them simple, and all of the different cooking times, but still had to arrive on the customer's table at exactly the same time, hot and perfect?" as she finishes, she slides the veggies into the pot perfectly, like she did it specifically to emphasize her point. "In this kitchen, every second counts, so leave Daddy at the door!"

Later, Eddie's at his station, trying to cook, but once again, Anne's right there, demanding, "What the hell is this?" and immediately grabs all the pots and pans and dumping them into the sink behind them, explaining, "Keep your station wide open. If you tried to pull that shit during the dinner rush, you know what would happen? A backed up kitchen serves no purpose other than to slow everything down." As she wipes the counter down, she keeps going, "Nobody gets their food, orders start overflowing, complete disaster." Once she's done wiping the counter, she says in a fake sweet voice, "I'll explain this in a way even you can understand. Keep this station wide open, or I WILL THROW YOU OUT OF HERE MYSELF!" Then storms off, but not before slapping him.

Still later, Eddie's whisking, when Annie grabs his arm and points out the stained sleeves, "What, did you forget to grab your jiz rag?" She moves her arms close to her body as she explains, "Keep your arms tucked in like this. When switching between tasks always come back to this position." As she speaks, Venom actually takes notice, cause this is actually something he can start doing immediately, for Eddie's sake as well as his own. After all, they are in this together. "When you're a chef, you gotta move fast, all while using sharp utensils and hot metals, so keep your arms in. You'll minimize the amount of cuts and burns, and your sleeves will stay clean. That's how you know you're a chef. Apron takes the fall, sleeves not at all." Anne holds up her sleeves to show it works.

Later, as they're pulling stems off of vegetables, Anne explains,

"I practically know Nieves' cooking style by heart. In almost every dish that comes out of this kitchen, there's always a catalyst. I'll show you myself. I know them all."

Eddie decides that's good advice, and pulls out a small notepad, reading it out loud as he writes, "Always find a catalyst."

But then Anne corrects him, "No, follow the recipe."

Eddie's confused, "But didn't you just say…?"

Anne clarifies, "No no no. It was her job to find a catalyst, it's OUR job to follow her recipes."

That makes more sense, so Eddie crosses it out and writes down, "Follow the recipe."

Next, Anne holds up a large sized potato and tells Eddie, "What is the best way to tell if a potato is still good? Not the smell, not the look. The feel of the flesh underneath the skin." Anne holds it in between them, inviting Eddie to feel for himself. "Firm, never flabby. Only good potatoes feel like this."

As they're zesting lemons, Eddie more slowly than Anne, she tells him about how to get first pick of the day, "Since we're the best restaurant, we always need to have to first pick of the day for the best produce. And there's only two ways to get it. Grow it yourself and bring it in, or bribe the supplier." She gestures behind them, where Chef Dan is doing exactly that. "Hey, it's a small price to pay to be the best."

As they peel potatoes, Anne gives Eddie the lowdown on the rest of the team,

"People immediately think just because we cook hoch cuisine, we're all stuck up. But I assure you, this isn't the case."

She gestures to Dan first, who's currently cooking something in a pan, "Dan here fled to Germany at a young age. Got hired by that holographic circus to run the animal projections. Before he got fired for messing around in the ringleader's office."

Next is Flash, "Flash did time."

Eddie has to ask, "What did he do?"

Anne admits, "Nobody knows. He says something different every time you ask. Among them are

'I cheated a major corporation out of millions.' 'I stole Spiderman's first costume using only a fishing pole.' 'I burned down an entire wildlife sanctuary filled with endangered species' and my personal favorite, 'I put someone in the hospital by actually putting my foot up his ass.'"

Then to the next two chefs, "Don't play cards with that guy. He's been banned from every major casino west of the Atlantic." Then to the other one, "He participated in non violent protests for the resistance by helping families go into hiding."

Eddie asks, "Wait. THAT resistance?"

Anne says, "He'll never confirm or deny. But apparently, it was horrible on both sides."

Now that Eddie has the complete lowdown, Anne finishes by saying, "So you see, wir are pioneers, explorers! More than cooks are we."

Eddie just noticed something, "Wir?"

Anne confirms, "Ja. You're a part of the team now, ja?"

Eddie smiles, "Ja. And thank you, by the way, for teaching me so much about cooking."

Anne surprises him by saying, "Thank you too."

Eddie has no clue why, "What could you have to thank me for?"

Anne says simply, "For actually taking it to heart." And smiles back at him.

It's clear they've both come a long way since she first started teaching him everything she knows, even if for different reasons. Eddie, because he's developing a bit of a crush, and Venom now knows it takes more than just raw talent to survive in this kitchen. Culinary giant, here he comes.


	16. Special Order

Drake drives towards the restaurant, when he swears he sees a symbiote crawl up Eddie's arm in the back by the backdoor. But when he backs up to look, apparently Eddie just dropped his keys, and Drake shakes it off. He has more pressing things to worry about.

That night, the maitre D approaches the new table, asking the group, "Have you all decided what you'd like this evening?"

One man at the table says, "Look, I'll say this much, your soup is amazing."

The woman in the group reminds thim, "Can we not? It's practically all we order!"

With that, the man asks the maitre D, "What else do you have?"

The maitre D tries to appease them, "We have a nice lobster…"

But someone else speaks up, and he's not about to be fooled, "I know about the lobster. Old classic, place used to be famous for it. What were asking is what does the chef has that's new."

Now that the customer has made the party's intentions clear, the maitre D is in shock. He knew the day when nostalgia wouldn't be enough to capture people's attention anymore would come, but he wasn't expecting it to happen so suddenly, so he assures them he'll ask on their behalf.

Once in the kitchen, "Someone just asked what's new!"

At the word new, everyone turns their heads, now just as shocked, "What did you tell them?"

The maitre D says, "I told them I'd ask."

Drake walks in then, and asks, "What's everyone freaking out about?"

Flash informs him, "Customers are asking for new food!"

The maitre D asks, "What do I tell them?"

Drake asks, "What did you tell them?"

The maitre D is now pissed at having to repeat himself, "I just said, I told them I'd ask!"

Drake doesn't really see why people are freaking out, so he says, "This is a piece of cake. Just pull out a really old Nieves recipe. Something we haven't made in a while." Thinking that's settled, Drake walks away.

But then, the maitre D says something that stops Drake cold, "They know about Nieves recipes. They like Brock's soup."

And that's when Drake finally gets it, "They're asking. For food. From Brock???"

As Drake paces to figure out what he should do, Dan pipes up, "A lot of customers like the soup. That's all it is."

But Drake's just figured something out. A way to fire Eddie before the deadline once and for all.

"Very well then, if it's Brock they want, they'll get Brock." He turns to Flash, "Tell them Chef Brock has hand picked something especially for them." And just to make sure he's drives it home, he tells Flash, "And be sure Brock's name is all over it."

Flash nods, "Ja, Chef."

Drake turns to Eddie, "Now's really where you get your chance to stretch your muscles. A dish the chef never got to bring to the menu. Jägerschnitzel zum Nieves. Anne will help you."

Anne immediately agrees, "Ja, Chef."

Drake leaves with a parting, "Now get to work. Our customers are waiting."

One chef is concerned, "Are you sure? That dish was a complete disaster! Nieves even agreed!"

Drake waves off his concern, "Exactly what Brock needs to get his feet off the ground!" And heads into his office.

Anne tracks down the recipe, and reads it out loud, "Here we are. Jägerschnitzel zum Nieves. Pork chop dredged in flour and cooked in butter, shallots, beef stock, white wine, and heavy cream. Crimini mushrooms? Peanut and licorice sauce."

It's obvious she doesn't have any clue what to make of it, and tells Eddie so, "I don't know this recipe, but it's Nieves so, DAN!" She calls to the chef, "We got some pork stomach soaking, ja?"

Somewhere Flash answers, but Eddie feels nauseous as he repeats, "Pork stomach?"

The challenge is on as Venom takes over control to start making the sauce. At first all Venom does is sniff it to see if he's on the right track, but then, he decides he's not gonna make the sauce, and on impulse, grabs the two spices in front of them on the shelves, sniffs them both, before deciding on one and sprinkling in. That done, he has Eddie lean down to sniff it again, and he decides this calls for some improvising. So he has Eddie move, with Eddie only saying, "Okay, I guess I'll be right back."

Venom moves in a flurry, and it looks ridiculous to anyone looking, with Eddie grabbing and smelling ingredients and taking only a select few, among them, raspberries and orange juice, which he grabs out of another chefs hand. Once Venom has everything he thinks will work, he goes back to his station, sets the ingredients down and starts mixing.

Anne demands, "What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be making Nieves' recipe!"

Eddie tries to cover, "It...is the recipe?"

Anne holds up the orange juice, and says, "Nowhere in this recipe does it say anything about orange juice! What else were you…" then she sees the other stuff Eddie grabbed. "Do you mean to tell me you've decided tonight of all nights to improvise? This is no time to act like a mad scientist! We have to get this out to the customers now!"

Eddie agrees, "You're absolutely right. Wouldn't hurt if I LISTENED to you once in a while!" But Venom just makes Eddie slap himself and keeps making the new sauce.

"Would you knock that off?" Anne demands.

Eddie plays dumb, "Knock what off?"

Anne says, "Whatever freakshow you're doing! Whatever it is, knock it off!"

Around the corner, Flash calls, "Where's the special order!"

Anne responds, "Coming now!" Then she turns to Eddie, grabbing the pork, "I thought we were a team!"

Eddie agrees, "We ARE a team!", as his body keeps making the sauce.

Anne demands, "Then what the hell are you doing right now?"

Eddie can only say, "It's really, really REALLY hard to explain."

Flash calls again, "The special?"

Anne called back, "Walking to the window!" and goes to set it down.

But Venom has other ideas, and as soon as the sauce is finished, he moves towards the dish to pour the sauce on it.

Until he sees Anne about to pour the licorice peanut sauce over it, and Venom has to physically put himself in front of Anne to stop her.

Anne sees what Eddie's about to do, and she warns, "Don't. Even. Think. About it."

Eddie defends himself, "I'm not! I'm no-." But that's when Venom chooses to make Eddie pour it on the dish, right when the maitre D grabs it and takes it out to the dining room.

Eddie can't really say anything, other than, "Sorry."

Now that the commotion has died down, Drake pops his head out the door of his office, "Is Brock done with his dish?"

Flash confirms, "Ja. It's even worse than what we remember. Just got sent out."

Drake pushes, "Did you taste it?"

Flash responds, "Of course I did! Right before he changed it."

Drake is outraged, "What? How could he possibly have changed it?" And immediately moves to the doors to the dining room.

Flash tells him, "He changed it right as it went out the door!"

Right then, the maitre D storms back in, excited, "They love it! They're already asking about it, about Brock! I just got 3 more orders!"

Drake can only say, "That's just... amazing!"

The rest of the night goes by in a big blur of excitement, with more and more people asking for the new dish as the night goes on, and by the end, the whole night is a success, and ends with the chefs toasting Eddie's success.

Eddie steps out at one point to let Venom disconnect, "Take a break, V. Get some air." And drops a small napkin of food for Venom to consume.

"Tonight's just the first of many."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The recipe in this chapter can be found here: https://www.carolinescooking.com/jaegerschnitzel-with-cranberry-raspberry-sauce/
> 
> The sauce I only changed to make it sound disgusting, and the sauce Venom makes is the one that's supposed to go with it.


	17. Hastenfever

As Eddie walks back into the kitchen to continue the celebration, out of nowhere, he feels his jacket be pulled, exposing his undershirt and chest, and when he turns to look, he sees Drake on the other end.

Eddie just looks at Drake, but Drake just says, "What? Don't you know there could be a surprise inspection at any moment? How do I know you're not slacking off?"

But then Drake moves into what he's really after, "Brock, I'd love to talk to you in private. In my office."

Eddie gets nervous at that, "Am I in trouble?"

Drake just states, "If you were in trouble, I wouldn't waste time calling you into my office. You'd already be gone. No, I just want to have a little chat with you. Nice little sip of wine, friendly chat. Chef to chef."

Anne sees them walking away, and can't help but feel hurt. She deserves at least some credit for getting him ready for the kitchen, doesn't she?

Flash seats her looking, and notes, "Looks like garbage guy won't need you anymore, ain't that right, Annie? He's got everything he needs." And walks out, having finished up for the night.

Inside Drake's office, he tells Eddie, "A toast to your success tonight, Brock. Congratulations."

But Eddie has to tell him, "Oh, I just took it to be nice. I'm actually trying to stay off the sauce."

Drake takes the glass from Eddie and informs him, "Naturally. I'd be polite too if I was offered a drink like that." And proceeds to dump it. Then, he pulls out a vintage wine, and says, "However, only a complete idiot would pass up an '82 Müller Thurgau. And you, Brock, have proven tonight you are definitely not an idiot. Let's toast!"

Meanwhile, outside, Venom is snacking on the little spread Eddie put together for him, even tasting the chocolate.

But then, he hears a noise near the trash cans, and immediately, he's on guard. He's gotten lucky this far, but how long can that last.

Slowly, Venom moves towards the noise, manifesting a sharp knife out of himself for protection.

Whatever it is, it sees him, and for a moment, Venom swears it looks like a symbiote. Venom raises his makeshift knife, ready to use it, but then the thing in the shadows surprises him by launching itself right in front of him, before Venom hears a voice he was starting to think he'd never hear again.

**Venom!**

Venom is shocked. **Toxin?**

Immediately, Toxin leaps on Venom, immediately connecting to each other. **You're alive!** **We thought you'd drowned in the rapids!**

But then Venom sees something, **Toxin, what are you eating?**

Toxin looks down at what it had been consuming, and admits, **I don't know. I think it might've been some kind of rotten meat.**

Venom can't stand for that, **No! Absolutely not!** **You're in Berlin now! My new domain! You're not settling for garbage in my domain.** And immediately slithers back inside towards the pantry.

But of course, his Nieves ghost has to show up right then, "Venom! You're stealing! You told Eddie he could trust you!"

Venom replies, **He can! It's for Toxin!**

Nieves reminds him, "The man could lose his job!"

Venom's had enough, **Meaning I'd lose mine too. It's under control.** And pushes Nieves away.

Back in Drake's office, he asks Eddie, "More wine."

Eddie, despite being sober for months now, couldn't help falling off the wagon at the promise of a vintage wine, so he reluctantly says, "I really shouldn't but...what the hell." And offers his glass.

Drake asks as he pours, "So, Brock, where did you train?"

In his drunken state, Eddie finds this hilarious, "Train?" And bursts into giggles.

Drake presses, "You can't tell me this is your first time cooking?"

Eddie replies, "It's not."

Thinking he's got the upper hand, Drake says, "I knew it!"

But then Eddie keeps going, "It's my…" he counts on his fingers, "5th time. Tuesday was my first time. But I was quite the journalist before that…"

Drake's already moving on, "Yes yes. Tell me about your interests, Brock. You like weird phenomena?"

Eddie's has no idea where this is coming from, "Phenomena? Like what?"

Drake continues, "Just the usual. UFOs, Bigfoot, Bloody Mary, Crop circles... symbiotes?"

Venom returns with food, **I brought you--.** Then he sees Toxin going to eat the trash anyway, **No no no! Spit that out!**

Toxin reluctantly complies, and Venom tells it, **You need to learn a thing or two about food.** And Venom hands it a bite of potato. **Take a bite of this-** \- But Toxin immediately makes it dissolve, and Venom has to scold it, **No! You don't just swallow it whole.** Then he hands Toxin a Japanese sweet potato, **Try again. Slowly. Just a bite.**

Toxin complies, as Venom keeps speaking, **Only the taste matters. Sweetness, nuttiness, can you taste any of it?**

Toxin responsds, **I assure you, I can taste the sweetness.**

Venom moves on, **Now try this** . He hands Toxin a small square of chocolate. **Completely different taste, isn't it? Sharp, bitter, surprise tang at the end.**

Toxin agrees, **Alright.**

Venom orders, **Now combine them.**

Toxin does, and admits, **Strange. Think I might taste something. Could be the nuttiness of the potato. Or the tang from the chocolate.**

Venom enthusiasm tries to get Toxin to understand, **Now imagine all the flavors ever thought of combined into unlimited meals! Things no one has tried before. Things that still need to be created!**

Toxin says, **I believe...** **I'm lost.**

Venom sighs, disappointed, **I see.**

Toxin admits, **But that was different. Best vermin I've ever…** but then he remembers something important. **Wait! What are we still doing here? Riot still doesn't know you're here! We gotta go back to the hive! Everyone will be so excited to have you back!**

Venom didn't think about that, **True, but…**

Toxin demands, **But what?**

Venom tries to explain, **I really need to…**

Toxin demands again, **What's more important than the hive? The hive is everything! You know that!**

Venom already knows thus, **I suppose it would be good to visit everyone.**

Back in the office, Drake's keeping up his interrogation and getting nowhere.

"Have you ever housed a symbiote?"

"Nope."

"Did you ever break into a lab that tested on symbiotes?"

"No."

"Maybe you were there when the meteor crashed at some point!"

"No, no and no."

"You're affiliated with symbiotes, you know you are!"

Eddie starts babbling nonsense, "You know who know, happy favors. Hey, why is it called that?"

Drake is confused, "What is?"

Eddie continues, like they'd been talking about it the whole time, "Hasenpfeffer. It's a rabbit dish, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna give something a name, it should be something that makes it sound delicious. Hasenpfeffer does not sound delicious. It's sounds like hasten, and fever. Hastenfever. Which doesn't sound appealing in the slightest."

Then, upon realizing he's empty, Eddie offers his glass.

Drake, frustrated, drops the empty bottle into a trash can.

"Unfortunately, that's the last of the good wine."


	18. Kumpania

**Venom. Has returned!** Riot shouts to the rest of the hive, and there's a buzz of excitement, as well as a feast to celebrate. And while Venom is glad to have his family back, he can't help but feel guilty about just leaving Eddie like he did.

As they all settle down to start eating, Riot informs Venom of what's been going on.

**Finding a replacement for food safety checker has been a disaster. Good news is nothing has been tainted, but it still wasn't easy.** Then, Riot sends a wave of disapproval,  **Which was no thanks to you.**

Venom twitches in guilt,  **I know. I am sorry.**

But Riot is already moving on.  **At least we have you back with the hive.**

Now's where Venom has to admit the truth, before he loses his nerve,  **About that, Riot…**

Riot notices something,  **You look smaller. Why's that? Not as much vermin, or you too good for it?** And laughs.  **Not so easy being a symbiote by yourself, is it?**

Venom tries to defend himself,  **Yes, but it's not like I'm a newly born Klyntar anymore. I can look after myself now. I have a good home and I can visit whenever I can.**

Riot is distracted,  **Nothing like a near death experience to make you-** Then he realizes what Venom just said.  **Visit?**

Venom assures Riot,  **I will. I promise.**

Riot doesn't understand,  **You're not coming back to the hive?**

Venom admits,  **No, I'm not. You didn't really I was going to be a part of the hive for the rest of my life, did you? Eventually a bird has to leave the nest, explore the world they live in.**

Riot argues,  **We're not birds. We're symbiotes. We don't leave our nests, we make them bigger.**

Venom fires back,  **Maybe I'm not that kind of symbiote.**

Riot goes on,  **Maybe you're not a symbiote at all.**

Venom tries to get the last word in,  **Maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. All we ever do is take. I don't want to take anymore. I want to create, give something back to this planet!**

Riot notes,  **You're talking like a lesser being.**

Venom tells Riot,  **Who aren't as bad as you make them out to be!**

Riot demands,  **How exactly do you know this?**

Venom tries to explain,  **I've...been observing them up close.**

Riot keeps asking questions,  **How close?**

Venom sees no need to tell the full truth,  **Close enough. Enough to know they're more than just monsters.**

Riot decides something then.  **Come with me. There's something I want to show you.**

Back in the Lebensgrundlage kitchen, Drake grabs his coat and tells Eddie,

"Clean the floors and countertops before locking up."

Drake almost makes it out the door, but Eddie stops him when he asks, "You...want me to stay and clean?"

Drake asks in a challenging tone, "Is there a problem?"

Eddie reluctantly says, "No."

Drake smiles, "That's what I thought. See you in the morning." And leaves.

Eddie turns to look, and upon seeing all the piles of all the dirty dishes, his pounding headache gets worse.

**We're here.** Riot informs Venom as they reach their destination. In the windows are TVs, depicting graphic images of symbiotes being pulled apart and having multiple experiments performed on them. If you weren't a symbiote, you couldn't hear the silent screams of pain.

Venom tries to look away, but Riot tells him,  **Take a good long look. This is what happens when a symbiote decides humans aren't so bad. We live in a planet with lesser beings, but they know how to hurt us. We have to be careful. Symbiotes can only looks out for each other. At the end of the day, we're all that's left.**

Then Riot slithers away, thinking his point settled the matter. But then, he hears one word that stops him cold.

**No.**

Riot turns back to Venom,  **What did you say?**

Venom stands his ground,  **I refuse to believe it. You're trying to tell me that life on this planet ends like this?** And gestures to the window.

Riot explains,  **This is how it's always been. The future is set in stone.**

Venom explodes,  **The future is NEVER set in stone. It's what we do in the present that changes it! It's just a matter of when.**

With that, Venom slithers away. 

Riot asks,  **Where do you think you're going?**

Venom's only response is,  **With luck, towards a brighter future.** And disappears into the night.


	19. Kisses & Vinegar

Now that Venom's made up his mind, he slithers back to the restaurant with a new sense of purpose. He hopes Eddie didn't have too rough of a night without him there.

When Venom slithers underneath the door, he slides up a mop handle to get a better view. He looks around for a few minutes, before he finally finds Eddie; fast asleep next to a mop bucket, exhausted from cleaning all night, no doubt. 

At first, Venom doesn't move, but then he hears a noise indicating someone else has shown up, so he immediately does down to slide underneath Eddie's skin. 

Once he's back in his usual spot, Venom moves Eddie's legs to get Eddie to stand upright. It proves to be difficult with an unconscious host, but somehow he gets Eddie standing. Venom knows this is going to be nearly impossible to keep up, so on impulse, he pulls one of Eddie's eyes open, to get his attention, but Eddie's so exhausted, his eye just falls back closed. 

This isn't good. Venom moves Eddie's head.to look for a solution, and sees a pair of sunglasses on a shelf. That'll have to do.

Outside, Anne arrives to clock in for her shift. She's still a bit irritated at the thought of Eddie blowing her off just because he's a big shot now, so when he sees Eddie already at the stove, she knows she needs to hash this out one way or another.

She walks past him and says, "Morning."

Naturally, Eddie can't answer, still unconscious, and Venom's never used Eddie's mouth before. And all they're doing right now is pretending to look busy so as not to arouse suspicion, sunglasses and all.

Then, once Anne's next to him with her knives, she repeats, "I said good morning."

Finally, Venom decides a nod is better than nothing, so he makes Eddie nod slightly.

Now that he's acknowledged her, she goes on, "So, Drake invited you into his office. Kinda big?" At no response, "That's kinda big, don't you think? What did he say?"

Venom has no idea what she's talking about, nor how to respond, so he moves Eddie's head again, but only succeeds in making a snarl.

Anne misinterprets this, and asks, "What, no sharing with the class?" Once Eddie's head turns down again, she goes on, "Oh, I see. Forgive me for getting in between your little bromance with the chef.", Sharpening her knives for emphasis. "I see it now. I teach you the tricks of the trade to get in good with Drake, and then suddenly I'm left in the dust?"

Venom tries to move Eddie's head again, thinking, **Wake up!** But it's pointless.

Anne says sadly, "I thought you weren't like that. I thought you knew I wasn't like that. I thought…"

But then Eddie lets out a snore, and that's the last straw for Anne, who proceeds to slap him, hard enough to where Eddie not only wakes up, Venom goes flying under the stove.

"I didn't have to a damn thing for you!" Anne yells. "If I knew better than taking pity on a weakling, your ass would've been fired a long time ago! But…" Anne loses some steam here, "But I wanted you to have a shot here. I liked you. I really did."

Eddie smiles at the thought of Anne reciprocating his feelings, but then, she regains her composure, "Clearly I made a mistake." And storms back out the way she came.

Eddie can't let her walk out, not now, just when things were going good. "Anne, wait. Anne!" Seeing the symbiote about to jump back in, he tells Venom, "It's over, V. I can't do this anymore!" And runs after Anne, with Venom already underneath the skin.

Eddie grabs Anne's arm and calls, "Anne, please. Don't go. I suck at talking. I suck at food too, unless you're helping me."

That makes Anne stops, but only to say, "You really shouldn't be so modest. It's beneath you." She sighs. "You have raw talent."

But Eddie keeps trying to explain, "No, actually, I don't! That's what I'm saying! Last night when I poured that sauce over the dish instead of following the recipe, like you told me to, I didn't do that either!"

That gets Anne's attention, "What are you saying?"

Eddie goes on, "I'm saying, I never would've done that! I would've followed your advice, done the recipe like I was supposed to, I would've jumped off a fucking cliff because I love you…" but then he loses his nerve, "Your advice."

Anne, smart girl that she is, can tell there's something else, "But?"

Eddie tries to speak, "But I…"

Venom, sensing what Eddie's about to do, can only shout **Don't so it!** to no avail. Curse the lack of communication.

Eddie keeps going, oblivious, "I have something I need to tell you. It's kind of... creepy. I have a…I have a s…"

Anne tries to fill in the blanks, "You have sepsis?"

Eddie tries again, "No! No. I have a...I have a slimy little…little…"

Seeing he has nothing to lose, Eddie just goes for it, "A slimy chef that tells me what to do."

Anne doesn't quite get it, "A slimy chef?"

Eddie's glad to have admitted that much, but now he has to clarify, "He's...um…" then he pats his torso. "He's in here."

Anne still isn't catching on, "In...your heart?"

Frustrated, Eddie throws up his hands in frustration, turning away. "Goddamnit. Why is it so easy to write and still so hard to talk to you?" Seeing there's no other way, Eddie decides he's just gonna have to show her, and let what happens happen.

Eddie turns back to Anne, "Okay, here goes nothing. You are an inspiration to me. I'm gonna put it all on the line. I don't care if I'm the butt of your jokes for the rest of my time here! You wanna know why I'm so talented? You wanna know why the food I make is getting everyone excited? I'm telling you, I'm gonna show you right now!"

Slowly, Eddie moves to unbutton his chef's jacket and expose Venom, while Anne prepares to kick him and run for it if he tries anything.

But what neither of them see is Venom panicking at the thought of losing his new life he's just committed to, and shouts, **NO!** and on impulse, pushing Eddie forward into a surprise kiss.

At first, it looks like Anne is gonna kick him anyway, but instead, she pushes him away, and both her and Eddie just stand there in shock. But then, Anne surprises both Eddie and Venom by moving back in and kissing Eddie back, and Eddie relaxes into it, while Venom safely retreats, knowing their secret is safe.


	20. How Could it Be Popular?

Bettina Vogt sits at her computer, typing up a review for yet another restaurant with a glass of wine. Really, it could be any restaurant, and the words would still be as eloquent as in a five star restaurant.

But on this day, her assistant comes into her office, and if she were being honest, Vogt really doesn't feel like listening.

"What is it?"

Her assistant hesitates before answering, "Lebensgrundlage."

Vogt tries to guess, "Finally closing their doors."

Her assistant denies, "No."

Vogt keeps guessing, "Still drowning in financial problems?"

Again, her assistant denies, "No."

Vogt, frustrated, while sipping her wine, "Announced a new line of tater tots? What the hell is it? Out with it already!"

Her assistant finally tells her, "It's back in the news. It's... popular."

The word alone makes her almost spit her wine back out, but once she remembers it's a good vintage, gathers herself and swallows it, before reminding him, "Haven't so much as been to Lebensgrundlage in years. As you no doubt remember, I damned it to an eternity as a tourist attraction, saying, and I quote,", flips to the page the review is in one of her books and reads, "Lebensgrundlage has finally found their place alongside another world renowned chef, Frau Crocker."

Her assistant doesn't disagree, "That's right."

Vogt stands up and turns to her assistant, emphasizing, "That was all I had to say on the matter. And that was supposed to be the end of it. My word is practically the law."

Again, her assistant wisely agrees, "That's right ma'am."

"Then tell me, if you may." She slams her review book shut loudly, and demands, "How the hell could it come back as popular from a review like that?"


	21. You Are the Mother! Revisited

"No, no no!" Drake exclaims in denial, as his lawyer tells him,

"The DNA's a match, the timing, it all checks out. He's Nieves' son."

But Drake can't accept that, "But something like this doesn't just happen out of nowhere! This has to be a long con! He has to know!"

Drake lofts the blind to show Eddie, who's just mixing something with a whisk, "Just look at him, pretending to be stupid! He has to be after the restaurant, that's the only explanation."

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, as Eddie and Anne work close together, Eddie keeps stealing glances at Anne, but what's different now is Anne's looking back. This causes a problem for Venom, who needs to stay focused on the food, so whenever Eddie turns his head away, Venom has to turn it back.

Back in the office, Drake explains, "Now I can't even fire him! He's getting attention. If I do anything now, people will demand to know why. Trust me when I say the last thing I want is people looking into anything about this.'

His lawyer doesn't see what the problem is, "Help me understand. Isn't it good to have press putting Lebensgrundlage back in their headlines? Isn't it good to have Nieves' reputation restored to its former glory?"

Drake denies, "Not if THIS guy's name and face is all over it!" And shows a newspaper clipping featuring Eddie, before stashing it into a desk drawer.

Drake gestures to the cutouts in the office, "Lebensgrundlage already has a name and face. It's young, sexy, and familiar. And it sells carne asada! So many boxes of carne asada!"

His lawyer tries to assure him, "Here's the bottom line. Give it three more days, then the deadline won't be a problem anymore. Then once he's more of a liability than an asset, fire him, and nobody will ever know."

As the lawyer walks to the door, he mentions, "I was almost worried about that sample you gave me. Had to send it back, if you can believe it."

Drake is confused, "Why?"

The lawyer tells him, "Cause the first time, it identified as symbiotic DNA." And shits the door behind him.

This is definitely news to Drake, who's suspicions are now even more aroused.


	22. Paper Trail

Venom's just mixing a sauce and adding spices, stopping to have Eddie sniff one when suddenly, they hear, "No, don't."

Eddie wasn't paying attention, asking, "Huh?"

And upon turning, they see Anne hand him another one, advising, "Try this one. Much better."

Venom's already against it, but Eddie doesn't seem to care, and reaches to grab it.

Venom attempts to stop him, restraining his arm, but Eddie persists, even grabbing with his other hand to pull it out of Venom's control, successfully taking it from Anne.

After closing, Eddie has Anne rode with him on his motorcycle, and it's pretty obvious she's new at it, cause she hangs on for dear life. Combined with the sudden speed, it's a second or two before Venom's knocked right off of Eddie, thrown into a sidewalk in front of the restaurant's front entrance.

It's not long before he's spotted, and the shriek, "Symbiote!" Is heard, and it sends everyone into a panic, throwing things in attempt to scare him away.

Venom quickly retreats into a storm drain to hide, but that doesn't stop him from hearing, "Disgusting parasites."

Somewhere between striking out on his own and now, Venom had forgotten how delicate the balance was between him and humanity. How a large part of the world still saw him.

But none of that compares to the surprise that awaits him when Venom makes it back to the kitchen's entrance the next morning.

**Venom!**

Venom turns, and sees a familiar symbiote waiting around the trash. **Venom!**

Curious, Venom slithers over to where Toxin's waiting, and Toxin greets him warmly, **Venom! We were starting to think you weren't going to show up!**

Upon hearing the we, Venom sees Toxin isn't alone. Some of Toxin's friends are there, and they greet him as well, **Hello, Venom.**

Venom is outraged, **You told them? Toxin, you know that's what I said not to do.**

Toxin tries to defend itself, **But these are friends. Surely you didn't mean them? I'm sorry.**

Venom tells Toxin, **It's not me you need to apologise to.**

But then, one of the toughest symbiotes in the hive, Carnage, speaks up, **Is there a problem?**

Frustrated, Venom answers, **No, there's not.,** pointedly looking at Toxin, then addresses the group, **Wait here.**

Venom proceeds to get inside no problem, as it's not time to open yet. However when he gets to the pantry, he finds it locked, so he heads to Nieves' office to search for the key.

He makes it all the way to the desk before the picture of Nieves comes to life and demands,

"Venom! What are you doing in here?"

Venom's still pissed, but he tries to explain,

**Toxin just showed up with members of the hive. After I specifically said not to. I told him it was never going to happen again. And he just happened to blab to a symbiote that doesn't take no for an answer. As you can imagine, it's a disaster.**

Venom continues his search, going on, **Anyway, they're hungry, the pantry is locked, so I need the key.**

Nieves is shocked, "They want you to steal for them?"

Venom answers without thinking, **Yes...no! It's...difficult. It's a hive. A hive doesn't allow for ideals.**

But then, the cowgirl cutout speaks up, "Ideals? If little Miss Princess over here had ideals, you think I'd be wasting my time with barbeque?"

The Mexican Nieves goes next, "Or carne asada?"

Then the one dressed like Betty Crocker goes next, "Or chicken and waffles? About as German as a corn dog."

Then the concept drawing on the paper speaks up, "Coming soon!"

Cowgirl Nieves speaks up again, "It's like the word sellout was made for us!"

The Irish step dancer speaks up, "Any of you want some shepherds pie?"

The real Nieves defends herself, "I can't control how my image is used, Venom! I'm dead!"

Finally, all the voices finally become too much for Venom, so he shouts, **Will you all just shut up!**

They do, so Venom continues, **I need to think. Word will spread. If I can't find a way to keep them quiet,** Venom moves to an open drawer, still looking for the key. **The whole hive will eventually show up hungry, expecting me to feed them.**

Upon finding the key under a file, Venom starts to move back out, but then he sees a file marked Nieves' Will. He pulls it out onto the desk and states, **I must take a look. May I?** He asks Nieves, who replies, "Go right ahead."

Venom switches on a light and opens the folder, and immediately spots some clippings with Eddie's face on it. **Eddie?** He turns back to Nieves. **What would Eddie be doing with your will?**

Nieves explains, "This was my office when I was alive."

Venom pushes the clippings aside, and sees a letter underneath them. Next to the will, he starts to read them both.

As he moves back and forth from the will and the letter, he starts connecting the dots, and it's not long before he's exclaiming,

**He's your son???**

Nieves exclaims, "I have a son??"

Venom demands, **How could you not now?**

Nieves reminds him, "I'm just a figment of your imagination! If you didn't know, how could I?"

Venom explains, **That means your son is the rightful owner of this restaurant!**

But then, the office door opens, and Drake walks through, and immediately sees Venom.

Quickly, Venom grabs the letter and the will, and slithers off, doing his best to pick up speed.

Drake proceeds to chase Venom throughout the streets of Berlin, almost grabbing him several times, and Venom dropping the papers more than once but Venom manages to stay a few steps ahead, and finally, he 's home free where Drake can't get to him, and rushes back to Eddie's apartment to show him the documents.

It's a very upsetting walk back to the restaurant as Drake walks back in, straight to the office, where he finds Eddie already there.

Drake doesn't hesitate to order,

"Get the hell out of my office!"

Anne chooses that moment to move into view, stating, "He isn't in your office. I believe you meant to say you are in his." Then shows Nieves' will.


	23. Up & Down

The events following the revelation seem like a blur to both Eddie and Venom.

First, a celebratory toast and a kiss from Anne to commemorate Eddie being declared the new owner of Lebensgrundlage.

It's not long before the word gets out and the headlines exclaim,

 _Popular Chef New Owner of Lebensgrundlage_.

Now that Nieves' office is now Eddie's, there's no reason to keep the blinds down. As Anne and Eddie do so, they see the fellow chefs grabbing the frozen food cutouts and heading to the back.

This has been a long time coming. All of them take joy in dumping the entire stock of frozen food inventory on top of the cutouts, covering them on gasoline, and just setting the whole thing on fire.

Venom is careful to keep away from it, so as not to hurt himself, but otherwise, he's just as happy as the rest of them to see the restaurant returned to its former glory.

It's not long before the headlines reach Drake, who now can't get a job because of the press declaring him the reason for Eddie almost not getting the restaurant. There has to be a way to make this right.

With his new salary, now Eddie can afford a bigger place to live, and once he finds the perfect place, he takes Venom to see it, and Venom is delighted. Especially the little window with the amazing view right by the staircase.

Now and again, Drake tries to spy on the restaurant through a window in the back, but thankfully, that's been taken care of thanks to Flash. Turns out that story of putting someone in the hospital by putting his foot up their ass was actually true. So when Flash spots Drake, all is takes is one threat of the foot and being forcefully thrown into the back alley.

Another thing is how Eddie and Anne are getting closer, their relationship blossoming into something more serious.

Unfortunately, not all changes are good.

With Eddie the new owner, the restaurant has been busier than ever. And not just inside the kitchen either. Almost every other night, Venom finds more members of the hive waiting for food, and Venom, nice guy that he is, just has to give it to them, because Carnage is always with them.

All of which is about to come to a head.

On this day, Eddie is posing for pictures for the press and fielding questions in Lebensgrundlage's dining room. 

One reporter asks, "Your rising success has been monumental, yet you've had no official training. What's the secret behind your genius?"

Eddie hesitates, "My secret?" Venom's sure Eddie's gonna take credit, 'You want the real truth?" This shocks Venom, now thinking this is where he's finally going to get some credit for his cooking, but Eddie disappoints him once again,

"I am Nieves' son. Guess it just runs in the family." And poses for another picture.

Another reporter reminds him, "But nobody told you about this until recently."

Eddie confirms, "No."

The reporter goes on, "And it's that information that led to you being declared owner. How did you find out?"

Again, Eddie chooses to lie, "I guess deep down, I just kind of always knew I was different. Perhaps that was the Nieves part?"

And poses in Nieves' signature pose.

That's when Venom chooses to pull Eddie's head back slightly, to remind him who's really the cook here, and Eddie winces in pain, pissed.

Another reporter speaks up with an easier question,

"Where do you get inspiration for your food?"

Eddie chooses to sit down to nurse his headache, and responds, "Inspiration comes in many forms, with different names. Mine just happens to be named Anne."

That's the last straw for Venom, who can't help yelling nonsense Eddie can't even hear and making Eddie's arms go stiff, so Eddie quickly has to cover, "Sorry. Muscle spasm."

Elsewhere, Drake has decided his plan of action, and makes a call to a health inspector. Once he picks up, Drake tells him, "I wish to report a symbiote infestation. It's taken over my…" then Drake catches himself, "Lebensgrundlage's restaurant."

The health inspector replies, "Lebensgrundlage? I think I can drop by. Let me check here. Next chance I have is 3 months."

But that's not enough for Drake, "3 months??? No, it has to happen now! It's a fine dining establishment."

The health inspector replies in a bored tone, "Herr, I have the information. If there's a last minute cancellation, I'll squeeze you in."

Drake gets flustered, but before he can say anything else, the health inspector has already hung up.

Back in the kitchen, the others are starting to get irritated, and Flash speaks up,

"The place opened an hour ago! He should be done by now!"

Anne goes to the dining room, where Eddie's still yakking it up with the press, and greets her, "Hallo, mein schatz! Have a seat! We were just talking about my source of inspiration."

Anne decides to make him squirm a little, "That's right. He calls it his slimy chef."

Venom agrees, but Eddie is quick to cover,

"Not that, silly. I was talking about you!"

But then, everyone is interrupted when the front doors open, and a stern looking woman walks straight to the table.

There's whispers among the crowd, immediately knowing who it is, but Eddie's still in the dark.

Once she reaches the table, she doesn't waste any time, "You're Herr Brock, correct? Sorry to interrupt your untimely celebration. But I thought it was only right to give you the heads up myself, now that you've put yourself on the board."

Eddie's too stunned by the sudden interruption to say anything other than, "Board?"

The woman confirms, "That's right. And you've been playing without a worthy opponent. Which, you should know, is not how we do things in this city."

That's when Eddie finally understands who this is, and now he's even more nervous, "You're Bettina Vogt."

The woman laughs, "You're quite the little guy for someone playing with the big boys."

Eddie has to say something, so as to save face with the press, "And you're in surprisingly good shape for someone who likes food."

That definitely shocks both the press and Vogt, but she quickly regains her composure, and fires back calmly,

"Like food? I LOVE it. They call me the Essen Fuhrer because if I didn't love it, I wouldn't swallow."

This makes Eddie gulp nervously, and Vogt only says, "You should be honored I'll be gracing this dining room with my presence tomorrow night, with expectations you'll no doubt fail to meet. Try to keep at least some of your dignity intact." And walks right back out.


	24. Venom's Revenge

Now that that bomb has been dropped, the press looks back to Eddie.

Thankfully, Anne takes control, grabs Eddie's arm and tells the press, "Thanks for the fun, and we hate to be rude, but we're German, and it's time for dinner!" And quickly rushes Eddie back into the kitchen.

Eddie attempts to excuse Anne,

"She meant to say it's dinnertime, and we're German!"

Back in Eddie's office, Venom comes out and actually shows his eyes to give Eddie a stern look of disapproval.

But Eddie's not having it.

"Don't give me that 'what the hell look. You were messing me up right in front of the press! How am I supposed to keep a straight face with you using my body against my will all the time?"

Venom says nothing, just slithers back up Eddie's arm, but Eddie's not done yet,

"And another thing, while I'm at it! You're not the only chef in the kitchen! Anne knows a thing or two. You might actually learn something from her, ever think about that?"

Venom's too pissed off, and once he's back underneath Eddie's skin, pulls Eddie's neck back at an uncomfortable angle.

Eddie can't help but yell out in pain, "Ow!" And Eddie makes an executive decision,

"That does it!"

Eddie makes his way out the back, not realizing Drake is out there, still spying on them.

Once outside, Eddie demands, "Come out!"

Venom complies, very reluctantly, and once he does, Eddie flings him off of him onto the ground. "You need to take a break. I'm not just an empty shell, and you're not the one in charge here!"

Drake, having heard everything, quickly figures it out, "So it's the symbiote that's the cook."

Eddie states, "You need to get your head back in the game, V. Vogt is coming tomorrow night, and I can't afford any distractions!" And heads back inside.

Venom is so pissed, he picks up a nearby glass bottle and flings it against a wall.

Naturally, Toxin and more of the hive are there, and Toxin notes, **Wow. I don't think I've seen that before.** And Carnage jokes, **Indeed. It's like you're his little pet.**

Toxin, feeling guilty, attempts to apologise, **I'm sorry, Venom. I know there's too many hive members. I tried to keep it…**

But Venom has other ideas, **No. You're right. I've been selfish.** He turns to the others, **You're all hungry?**

At the enthusiastic replies, Venom replies, **Then tonight is my treat. We'll come in after closing. In fact, tell Riot to bring the whole hive.**

Later, after the restaurant has closed for the night, Eddie goes back to his apartment and calls out, "V?" But there's no response. He's starting to feel bad about how they left things, so he decides to go make it right. Determined, he walks back out, back to the restaurant.

Meanwhile, after the last chef has gone home for the night, the entire hive sneaks into the restaurant, and Riot notes, **Nice work, Venom. An inside job. I see why you like it here.**

Venom quickly shushes Riot, and goes to open the pantry door, allowing the hive to go in and steal food.

They're not even a few minutes in when the lights come back on, and a voice calls out, "V?", so they quickly hide anywhere they can. 

"V" comes the call again, so Venom has no choice but to come out.

Upon seeing Venom, Eddie immediately starts, getting down on his knees, "Hey, V. I thought maybe you went home. Then when you weren't there, I guess I felt bad how we left things."

As Eddie speaks, the hive does their best to hide among the food. "I really don't wanna fight with you. I've been under so much pressure. So much has changed, in not much time at all, really."

Toxin, meanwhile, has suddenly spotted some more of the chocolate Venom had him taste from his hiding spot, and can't resist going after more.

"Suddenly I'm a Nieves, so I have to be a Nieves, or people will know it's all a lie. People used to think I was a loser, even when I was an investigative journalist, so they didn't have high expectations for me. And the only reason people's expectations have changed at all, is because of you."

Venom, meanwhile, feels terrible. He sees now he planned a raid on the pantry in a fit of anger that wasn't really warranted. Eddie didn't deserve this, nor did the restaurant. What has he done?

Eddie keeps talking, standing up, "I've been an asshole."

Back inside the pantry, Toxin is attempting to grab another piece of chocolate just out of his reach, having already grabbed the others, and if he's not careful, he's gonna fall. 

"You've always been there, and I should never forget that. You're a good friend. One of the only friends I've ever really-."

But right then, Toxin does fall, and this causes the chocolate to go flying, straight out of the pantry and hitting the back of Eddie's head.

"Ow." Eddie says, rubbing the back of his head, and turning then.

Venom panics, but there's no time to interfere, as Eddie goes towards the pantry, opens the door, demands, "What the hell's going on here?" And flicks on the light.

Immediately, the hive decides to forget about the food and slither out. To Eddie, it looks one one huge blob.

Venom has no way to explain, and Eddie immediately accuses, "You're stealing from me? How dare you! I thought we were partners. I trusted you!"

Eddie grabs a mop and forcefully shoves them all outside, Venom included, and shouts, "Get the hell out. You and all your symbiote pals. And don't you ever come back. Or I'll treat you the way restaurants are supposed to treat parasites!" And slams the door shut.

Venom just sits there, staring at the doors, completely and utterly crushed. All in a matter of minutes, his whole career has gone down the drain. 

All he says is, **You were right, Riot. Who was I trying to fool? We are what we'll always be. Parasites. He'll eventually leave, and now you know how to get inside without my help.** And slithers away slowly.

Riot asks, **You don't want to come?**

Venom just replies, **Not hungry.**


	25. Polly

Eddie tentatively approaches the table, asking the diner,

"Do you know what you'd like to order this evening, madam?"

The diner lowers her menu, answering,

"Yes I do. I'd like your heart, freshly pulled out of your chest and stabbed with a skewer!"

Bettina Vogt then proceeds to laugh, and it makes Eddie's heart pound so loudly, it actually manages to wake him up with a start, which turns out to be someone knocking on his office door.

Disoriented, Eddie says, "Come in."

The door opens, and it's Anne, telling him, "It's V-Day. You should give them a speech."

Eddie has no clue how to answer that, "A speech? And say what?"

Anne reminds him, "You're the boss! Give them some inspiration!"

Reluctantly, Eddie leaves the office, stand in the middle of the kitchen, and says, "Excuse me."

When no one stops to look, he says louder, "Excuse me!"

That works, and now all eyes are on him, giving Eddie into a fresh wave of nerves, but he tries to press in anyway,

"Tonight's the night. Empty stomach is coming, and she's gonna have a Vogt." Then he realizes what he just said, "I mean Vogt. She's coming! The food critic, right? And she's gonna order something from our spanking new menu! And we're gonna be cooking it. Unless of course she opts for a salad."

This is obviously not his best work, but somehow, in this restaurant, with his name on the food, and tied to the restaurant's reputation, he's in uncharted waters. This isn't like when he was an investigative journalist. This is something he's never done before, and all he can do is keep talking and hope it'll be enough.

Meanwhile, Venom is watching from a window, cause no matter what Eddie said, he can't just walk away.

 **You need to let it go.** Toxin calls, and when Venom turns, he sees Toxin in the garbage again. Venom slithers down over to Toxin, reminding him, **It's not safe. The restaurant is still open.**

Toxin tells Venom, **I'm hungry. And actually, I've realized I don't need their food to be happy. The key, Venom, is to not be a snob. Observe.** Toxin pushes a piece of cardboard out of the way, showing some food inside, and Toxin starts to move towards it, but Venom can see it's a trap, and immediately shouts, **STOP!** and shoves Toxin out of the way, effectively trapping himself.

Toxin immediately throws himself against the canister, but it's pointless. **No, no no! I'll get Riot!** And slithers off.

That's when Drake shows his face, sneering in the small window, "You may think you're a chef. But you're still just a symbiote."

Back inside, Eddie's still stumbling though his speech,

"So what if her review took away a star? So what if it killed...my mom."

Dan can't bear to watch the disaster unfolding, and puts his head down and notes, "This has bad karma written all over it."

"But here's what I have to say!"

But then, the maitre D walks in, telling everyone else, "Vogt has arrived!"

That gets everyone's attention, and Anne, annoyed, moves in front of Eddie and tells everyone,

"Vogt is just a customer. Now let's make some food!"

Eddie tries to get on board, "Yeah! Let's…" but then he remembers Venom is gone, and it's just him. 

"I'll make this super simple to understand, so even a parasite like you can follow along. You're gonna make for me a new line of Chef Drake frozen foods. And I, in return, will not hand you over for experiments."

With that, Drake shoves the canister in the trunk of his car, and walks into the restaurant's dining room, in disguise.

"Auf wiedersehen, parasite!"


	26. Relativity

Looking through the window in the door from the kitchen to the dining room where Bettina Vogt awaits, the maitre D takes a breath and bravely walks through, straight to Vogt's table, and asks,

"Do you know what you'd like to order this evening, madam?"

Vogt, meanwhile, has just been perusing the menu, and needless to say, she isn't impressed. "Indeed, I think I do. After all the bells and whistles people put in the papers about your rising chef, you know what I'm after? Some relativity."

Then she smiles, like it's an epiphany, "That's it!" And slams her menu closed. "I want some hot out the pan, seasoned, well done relativity. You know any good wines that go with that?"

The maitre D doesn't know how to respond to that, whether because he's a nervous wreck or because he can't quite keep up with the critic's lingo doesn't matter.

"With what, madam?"

Vogt reminds him, "Relativity. Farm-to-table, I take it?"

This doesn't help at all, and the maitre D tries to answer, "I uh…"

Not waiting for him to respond, Vogt goes on, "Fine. Since relativity is sold out here, and this godforsaken town has decided to do away with it, I'll make you a little deal. You bring the food, and leave the relativity to me. Which I think will go nicely with a Riesling 1959."

Unfortunately, the maitre D still can't quite understand her, so he tries, carefully, "Madam, I'm sorry, but your dinner selection…?"

That's when Vogt decides to take the direct approach by slamming her hands on the table, pushing herself up to her feet, and gets right in his face, so there's no mistaking what she says,

"Tell Chef Brock, I want whatever he dares to put in front of me. Tell him to give it. All. He's got."

With that, the maitre D goes back into the kitchen, while Vogt sits back down.

Meanwhile, still in disguise, Drake sits a table away, and tells his waiter, "I will have whatever the woman over there is having." This is just going to be icing on the cake, watching the restaurant go up in flames without their star chef.


	27. Abandoning a Sinking Ship

Back in the canister, Venom just lays there and sulks. What else can he really do? But of course, that's right when the ghost of Nieves shows up again, just casually sitting next to him.

"Well ain't this a sorry sight. We're giving up."

Venom has to ask, **What makes you say that?**

Nieves reminds the symbiote, "We're trapped in a canister, inside the trunk of a car, awaiting a future in frozen food."

Venom disagrees, **No. I'm the one trapped in the canister. You can go wherever you want.**

Nieves just says, "I can only go wherever you imagine me to be. Wherever you want to be."

And that's just the tip of the iceberg for Venom.

**Enough. I don't want to pretend anymore. I pretend to be a parasite for Riot, a human for Eddie. I even dreamed you up so I wouldn't feel so alone! But all you ever say is stuff I knew all along!**

Venom straightens himself up, and goes on, **I know who and what I am! Why do I have to keep hearing it from you first? Why do I need to pretend at all?**

But strangely, the Nieves ghost just smiles and says, "You never did, Venom." And disappears.

Venom starts to think on that, but before he can, he hears a bang outside, and knows it could only be Riot and the hive members Toxin promised.

**Riot? Riot! I'm in the trunk! What…**

Then Venom sees Riot slither into the cracks of the trunk, and Venom shouts, **Riot!** as Riot and the other hive members work to pull apart the canister.

Once Venom is free, Venom says, **Thank you. You saved my life.** Then immediately slithers away, back towards the restaurant. Behind him, Riot demands, **Where are you going?**

Venom calls back, **Back to the restaurant. They can't do it without me!**

Riot calls, **Why does it matter?**

Venom shouts happily, **Because I'm A CHEF!**

Riot and Toxin immediately move to follow him, sure Venom's about to walk into a suicide.

Meanwhile, as predicted, the kitchen is in utter chaos. Orders are piling up, and in an attempt to save face, Eddie tried to cook the recipes himself, only to fail miserably, and Flash is reaming him for it now,

"How the hell could you fuck up so badly on your own recipe?"

Eddie's trying to keep a cool head as he answers, "I don't know! It's not like I wrote the damn thing down! I just knew!"

Flash demands, "Then you can 'just know' again, because there's no way in hell we can serve this!" And shoves the burnt disaster in his face.

The maitre D comes back in then, demanding, "Where's my order?"

Eddie tries to find a compromise, "Can't we try something else? Something I DIDN'T make?"

Another chef reminds him, "This is what they're asking for!"

Eddie tries again, "Make them reorder! Tell them we're out!"

Yet another chef reminds him, "How the hell could we be out? We just opened!"

The chef from before tells him, "I got a better idea. Why don't we SERVE THEM THEIR ORDER!" and shoves the order tickets in Eddie's face.

Seeing Eddie's starting to get overwhelmed, Anne grabs Eddie's shoulders and tells him, "Just tell us what you did, and we'll make it!"

Eddie admits, "I don't know what I did!"

Flash interrupts, "We can't just leave our customers hanging! What are we supposed to tell them?"

That's when Eddie's brain just shuts down, and all he can say is, "Tell them…" then makes a run for his office door, screaming, "Fuuuuck!"

That done, the remaining chefs are left to figure it out amongst themselves.

Meanwhile, Venom's just made it to the back door, and Riot's just caught up with him and throws himself on top of Venom.

 **Stop! You'll be seen!** But Venom's not about to let anything stop him, especially Riot.

When he's finally back inside, the chefs are still arguing, when one of them spots Venom, and Riot and Toxin skedaddle to avoid being seen as well.

It's immediate chaos with multiple people shouting at once,

"Symbiote!"

"Get the bleach!"

But upon hearing the commotion, Eddie peeks out the window, and upon seeing Venom, rushes back out.

Venom braces himself for anything, be it death or anything else, but before anyone gets close, he hears someone shout,

"Don't touch him!" And put themselves right in front of him. "Nobody touch him."

Looking up, he sees Eddie, who turns around and whispers, "Thanks for coming back to save my ass, V." Then turns back to address the other chefs.

"I know you're gonna think I'm crazy, but...well let's face it. The truth is crazy sometimes. But that doesn't make it a lie. And the truth is…" Eddie braces himself now, ready to tell the entire truth, "I have no cooking ability whatsoever. But this symbiote." At this, Eddie bends down to pick Venom up, "He's the one behind all the recipes. He's the chef. The real chef."

Eddie pulls open his chef's jacket and goes on, "He's been controlling my body. He's been hiding under my skin." Venom demonstrates by spreading over Eddie's arms and making them lift, to a collective gasp around the kitchen.

Once that's done, Eddie tells them, as Venom slides onto Eddie's hand, "He's the one making the food that has everyone so excited. The reason Vogt is here tonight! I've been taking credit for his gift." 

Eddie pauses, because this is the hardest part, then says, "I know how insane this sounds. But think about it. Did you not believe I was the one making all the dishes? It works. It's insane, but it works. We can be the best restaurant in Berlin, and this chef, this amazing chef can get us there." At this, Venom can't help but purr. "So what do you say? Will you join me?"

It's silent for several moments, where amazingly, the first one to step forward is Flash. He gives Eddie a look Eddie can't pinpoint. It could be a mixture of disbelief, disgust, or shock, but regardless, he just takes off his apron and walks out.

Then, one by one, the rest follow suit, until it's just Anne left.

Anne walks to Eddie, then raises a hand to slap him again, and Eddie winces, ready for it this time, but instead, she just walks out, shoving him out of the way.

Now, the kitchen sits empty, and it's just him and Venom. Eddie looks through the window into the dining room, where Vogt is waiting, but can't bring himself to go out there and send her away.

Resigned, Eddie sets Venom down on a counter and just walks dejectedly back into his office, leaving Venom by himself.

Out in the streets, Annie drives away, tears in her eyes. She's never felt so betrayed in her life. She almost crashes but manages to get it together at a stoplight.

Ironically, this stoplight just happens to be right in front of a store with Nieves' cookbook on display, showing the title proudly, Down to the Last Bite.

At that, Anne just stares at it. She can't seem to tear her gaze away from it, and others behind her start honking when the light turns green, but she doesn't move.

In the dining room, Vogt checks the time on her watch, and makes a note on her notepad how long it's taking for food to arrive.


	28. Dinner Rush

With Venom the only one in the kitchen, he just stares at the doors to the dining room. What else can he really do? Now that everyone's gone, he has no chance of saving this restaurant.

Dejected, Venom starts to slither away, only to find Riot right there.

**Riot.** Venom acknowledges the other symbiote.  **Riot, I don't know what I can say.**

Riot only says,  **I was wrong about you. And your friend.**

Venom tries to explain,  **I'm not picking this over the hive. How am I supposed to pick one part of me over the other?**

But Riot's thoughts are elsewhere,  **I wasn't referring to cooking. I was referring to valor. This is really that important to you?**

Venom looks around the kitchen again, then confirms without saying a word.

That settled, Riot calls out,  **FALL IN!**

Immediately, the hive is there, and Riot tells Venom,  **We're not chefs. But we're still a hive. Tell us what to do, and we'll do it.**

Just then, the back door opens, and a man walks through and sees them all there. Venom looks up to the wall, and sees the man's picture next to his title: health inspector. The man doesn't even bother coming in, having seen all he needs to see, and rushes back to his car.

Venom orders,  **Stop him!**

Immediately, Riot orders,  **Sector 4, with me. Everyone else, stay and help Venom!**

The health inspector gets into his car and tries to start it, but the engine isn't turning on. Right then, Riot's team reaches the car and surrounds him. He successfully turns it in and backs up, but only succeeds in crashing into a halt.

Back in the kitchen, Venom first has the rest of the hive wash themselves before designating them to stations.

One by one, he calls them off, handling them like a pro,

**Team 3, fish! Team 4, roasts! Team five, grill! Team six, sauces! To your battle stations! Let's go! If you're handling food, you will not touch the ground!**

Eddie peeks out the window again, and comes back out at seeing the busy kitchen. 

They share a look, and Eddie notes,

"We need a maitre D."

Venom immediately has the perfect replacement, and sends Eddie out in a tuxedo and roller skates. Thankfully he still has some muscle memory from his younger years at the skating rink, so he doesn't make an ass of himself.

Eddie swiftly skates I to the dining room to set down menus for new customers and serving up wine.

When he reaches Drake's table, Drake holds up his menu, and Eddie apologizes while pouring water,

"Very sorry about the delay, sir. We've suddenly become very understaffed."

Drake waves this off, saying, "Take your time." as Eddie skates back to the kitchen to bring finished orders to the next table.

He even manages to pour Vogt's requested wine in record time, and even Vogt has to take a second look at seeing the famed chef dressed as a waiter.

Back in the kitchen, Venom instructs the teams one by one, starting with Carnage, who's punching a piece of meat to tenderize it,

**Make that steak nice and tender! Hold and punch! Hold and punch!**

Over on the fish team, he instructs,

**Watch the Pfannfisch. Less cream. More butter. Only use Tilsit cheese!**

On salads, he instructs,

**Assemble the salad like a work of art!**

He samples a sauce for a salad and instructs,

**Watch the vinaigrette on that Bavarian!**

Seeing someone slack on a sauce, he orders,

**Do NOT let that Hollandaise coagulate! Double down on the whisk!**

Back on fish,

**Poach that cod gently!**

Then he reaches the sauce station, and orders

**Taste check. Spoons, now!**

One by one, he tastes them and notes,

**Good. Easy on the salt. Good.**

Back on roasts,  **Watch the bouillon, or the round steaks will be inedible!**

He notices Toxin wiping a dish to make it presentable, and try to steal a lick.  **Toxin!**

Toxin flinches at being chastised,  **Sorry.**

But wouldn't you know it, amidst all this chaos, the back door opens, and who of all people should walk through but one Miss Anne Davis.


	29. How Would You Prepare It?

Upon entering the kitchen once more, the first thing Anne sees is a bunch of blobs of goo making food, and the sight is so horrifying, she gags and turns to go outside to throw up, but she's stopped by Eddie, who grabs her in a hug and exclaims,

"Anne! You came back! Anne, listen, I'm…"

But Anne's nausea has passed, and she quickly shushes him,

"Don't say another damn word. If I think too hard on it, I'm gonna turn tail and run again. Just tell me what the symbiote wants to serve."

Venom pulls out a recipe in the file, and upon reading it, Anne has to tell him,

"Hasenpfeffer? It's a Yiddish dish." She shows Venom the dish and asks, "You're sure you want to cook this for Vogt?"

Venom twitches in the affirmative, and Eddie confirms for him, before skating back to the dining room as the restaurant's only waiter.

Anne goes to grab the garnish as she reads the recipe, when she hears a crash outside, only to see another big blob carry a bound and gagged health inspector and throw him in the pantry, slamming the door shut.

Whatever. Anne goes to start making the dish, when Venom grabs her wrist to stop her. Annoyed, she says, "What? I'm making Hasenpfeffer." And holds up the recipe. When Venom doesn't move, she then asks, "Well, how would you cook it?"

Venom thinks on it, then starts the prep work immediately, cooking the bacon and having Anne take over while he starts dredging the rabbit.

After that, the steps go one after another, cooking the rabbit in the bacon fat, working on the marinade, then getting it all in the pot to cook.

While Vogt still waits, she takes a small sip of her soup, and is surprised to find she doesn't entirely hate it.

Finally, Venom's Hasenpfeffer is finished and plated, one for Vogt and one for the disguised Drake, and immediately, they go out to the dining room, the first one set in front of Vogt.

Immediately recognizing the dish, Drake has to scoff at the nerve, "Hasenpfeffer? They have to be out of their minds."

But he watches for Vogt's reaction first, because ultimately it's her words in the paper that will sink the restaurant, not his.

Vogt clicks her pen with one hand to start writing, as Eddie watches from a distance, bracing for the worst. Vogt spears the rabbit with her other hand and raises it to her mouth, and chews slowly.

_She's just come home from school, after getting bullied again, and she can't help but sniffle. Her dad doesn't say anything, just sets some leftover stew he's just reheated on the stove in front of her as she sits at the table, and kisses her on the forehead, and she takes only a small bite, but it's still just as delicious as when she ate it the first time._

Vogt just stares at the dish in front of her in shock, unable to fully process what she's just tasted. In fact, all thoughts about her review go completely out the window, even dropping her pen on the floor. In all her years as Berlin's best critic, it's only fitting it's this dish that's getting this reaction out of her. It's like she can feel her youth returning to her body.

Excitedly, she greedily goes in for another bite, and she even lets out an, "Mmm." as she does.

Drake has no idea what to make of her reaction, so he takes a bite himself. His reaction is nowhere near as profound, but even he can't deny it's delicious. He tries to find something wrong with it, he really does, but he just can't. Which is the tipoff that something isn't adding up.

He bursts into the kitchen and demands,

"WHO THE FUCK MADE THAT HASENPFEFFER! BRING ME THE CHEF AT ONCE!"

But in his anger, he didn't realize the kitchen was filled with symbiotes, and when they turn to look at him, he knows he's in trouble.

Sure enough, he gets bound and gagged and thrown into the pantry, right alongside the health inspector.

Now it's do-or-die time with Vogt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stew pictured is here, but I used the steps of another one for the description.
> 
> https://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/632/Hasenpfeffer-German-Rabbit84011.shtml


	30. Thank You for the Meal

In front of her, Vogt's plate is empty, devoid of any traces of her meal left. Something that hasn't been achieved in years.

She traces her plate to pick up the last of the broth, saying,

"I can't remember the last time I asked to give my compliments to the chef." and sucking the broth off her finger.

"And now it appears my waiter IS the chef."

But Eddie's not playing that game anymore.

"Thank you, but tonight I'm just your server."

Vogt doesn't understand, "Then who do I thank for tonight's meal?"

Eddie wasn't prepared for that, so he excuses himself, retreats back to the kitchen, and returns with a blond woman in tow.

Vogt immediately speaks up, "You must be the chef!"

But Anne just holds up her hand to halt her,

"If you wish to meet the chef, you'll have to wait until the rest of the room clears out."

Vogt starts to get annoyed, but her curiosity is piqued, "Very well."

It's another hour or two before Vogt is the only one left in the room, and finally, Eddie and Anne return.

But this time they're not alone. Eddie holds out his hand, and a pile of black goo appears on his palm.

Upon seeing this, Vogt's ready to write it all off as a joke. But as Eddie tells the story, any thoughts if it being a joke are banished.

Other than an occasional question, and getting up to see a demonstration of the symbiote using Eddie to make the meal again, Vogt doesn't say anything.

Once Vogt has heard everything, she stands from her seat, says, "Thank you for the meal." And departs without another word.

Come the next morning, her review is there for all to read.


	31. Down to the Last Bite

_A critic's job is easier than you might think, in some ways. There's almost no risk on our part, and yet we hold the power over those who offer up their creations and themselves to be judged by us._

_It's always fun writing a negative review, and even more fun to read one in the paper. But if we're being painfully honest, a piece of junk is probably more valuable than any critic's review calling it so._

_But as I said, there's still a risk, one no critic can avoid, and that's when we stumble on and defend a new discovery._

_There's always new talent and new creations being discovered, and always critics waiting in the wings to tear them apart._

_New discoveries need some company. Last night, I made a new discovery, an astounding meal from a source I never would've expected. It would be an insult to both the meal and the chef to say both have forced me to abandon my preconceived notions. The truth is they've affected me all the way down to my soul._

_I have quite a reputation for criticizing Chef Nieves' famous motto, "Down to the Last Bite". But only now do I realize what she was referring to. Any chef can get a customer to take the first bite, but the one that gets you to the last can be anyone, and come from anywhere._

_I don't believe there can be any more proletarian origins than that of the genius behind Lebensgrundlage, who is, in this Essen Fuhrer's opinion, the best chef in all of Germany. I will be returning to Lebensgrundlage soon, with an open heart and empty stomach._


	32. And Then What Happened?

Vogt's review made it the best night of Venom's life. But unfortunately, as someone once said, the only predictable thing about life is its unpredictability.

They obviously couldn't just leave Drake and the health inspector in the pantry. They had to let them go. Of course, they reported the restaurant to BMEL.

It didn't matter if Vogt sung her praises of the food or not. As soon as word got out there were symbiotes in the kitchen, the restaurant was immediately shut down, and both Vogt's job and reputation as Berlin's best critic were as good as gone.

But don't go feeling too badly for our little crew. 

For starters, Vogt is now much happier as a small business investor for a cute little bistro that opened up recently, called Die Hasenpfeffer.

Eddie and Anne broke up not long after Lebensgrundlage shut down, but still managed to remain in each other's lives, and are still best friends to this day. Anne is now the sous chef at Die Hasenpfeffer, and Eddie decided he wasn't ready to leave the food industry quite yet, and is now a food journalist and the bistro's publicist, as a way of spying on the competition.

Chef Dan eventually heard about the crew landing on their feet, and as the only other chef to come back, landed a job as one of the bistro's chefs. He and Anne have been dating since Vogt started making a regular appearance in the dining room.

The hive never managed to stop yearning for fresh food, and now has an in to the bistro unseen, so they never have to worry about food as long as they're not seen by customers.

On this night, just another one of many more to come, Venom's signaled to return to the kitchen, as the dinner rush is about to begin.

With one last look at Vogt, who's raising her glass to toast with the other customers, Venom slithers back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on Vogt's usual order.

Anne sets it down for him, noting, "You know how she likes it." as Venom pours the broth over the rabbit.

Eddie comes back to the kitchen to grab the dish, saying, "Thanks, V." and bringing it to Vogt, who's all too eager to dig right in.

Eddie asks her, "Would you be interested in a dessert tonight?"

Vogt laughs good naturedly, "You always do."

Eddie presses on, "Which will it be?"

Vogt turns to the kitchen, and upon seeing Venom in the window, gives Venom a big smile and tells him, "Surprise me!" before returning to her meal.

The restaurant is in full swing, with all tables filled and a line outside, but Venom couldn't be more excited.

In such a short time, Venom had gone through the biggest transformation of all. He'd gone from parasite, to fake human, to aspiring chef, to a real chef, back to a parasite, to the best chef in Germany, to just himself. It may not have ended how he was expecting, but really, it couldn't have gone any other way. It was in a little dish called Hasenpfeffer Venom was able to show Berlin's formerly toughest critic what he could do, and now, he has his own restaurant, one where he's not striving to be anyone but a better version of himself.

As he prepares a dessert for Vogt, Venom has to smile to himself, because he wouldn't have it any other way, and that will always be worth more than any praise from even Nieves herself.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments comments comments!


End file.
